Arrona and Fairy Tail
by Angelfusion15
Summary: Arrona, a 13 year-old girl is saved by our one and only pink and blonde haired magical duo. Having never seen this kindness before she joins Fairy Tail... but will her secrets catch up with her as she tries to learn how to trust others? (updates every Sunday)
1. Chapter 1

I woke up to hear unfamiliar voices. Finally, someone I don't know. Everyone I knew was out to get me. Thank goodness, somebody I don't know. I beg, I pray, l hope they aren't like the others I know.

"Get some magical restraint cuffs on him. I don't want to know what would happen if he woke up without them on." A young female spoke as if she was irritated.

"Fine. Did you get all the files?" An exasperated male responded annoyed he had to do something.

"I think so. Let me check downstairs though." The female started heading towards the stairs. This was it. I was weak. I could barely move, so all I could do is hope.

Her boots echoed as she wandered down the stairs into the room I lay in. The light from upstairs lets me see her blonde pigtails.

"This place is creepy. Huh… I can't feel any magic." She approaches clearly unknowing that there is magical restraints on the room itself. "What the hell?!" She notices me and runs to my side. Her brown eyes filled with worry is all I could make of her.

"Are you ok? Can you speak?" Her voice was shaky, worried, and rushed. I looked at her with my eyes half open. I only had one chance. What do I say?

"The room, no magic, put him in prison now." I wanted to elaborate, but I couldn't do anything. My voice was plagued with exhaustion. I stared at her hoping she would understand. After a moment she looked around the room, and then carefully picked me up and carried me up the stairs. It was clear she wasn't used to carrying people as she slowed with every step. She got up the stairs and a couple of yards. I looked around to see the place demolished. It was worse than the last time I tried leaving.

"What the hell!? Who is she!?" A pink haired man who I assume was the male I heard earlier ran towards the girl and I. I then felt myself being laid on the rough ground.

"I don't know. She was in the room underneath. There was nothing else. She's weak. She said something about the room, no magic, and the needing to put the man in jail." She spoke quickly and out of breath. He then grabbed me from the ground and brought me to the wagon. He set me down lightly.

I was feeling the magic energy already. Soon I will be fine, but that man must be put in jail now. I heard them mumbling to each other. I need them to come here, but I can't do much. I become enveloped in my own thoughts trying to figure out what to do.

"We are going to get you help right away don't worry." She looked at me with an unreadable face. I took a deep breath and choose my words.

"No, please bring him to jail first." She looks at me surprised. The pink haired male stepped up behind the blonde, and nodded as he put his hand on the blonde's shoulder to get her attention. She took a breath and went to the front of the wagon. My eyes slowly closed as if they felt it was safe for me to rest, to regain my energy.

Sunlight tries breaking through my eyelids as I feel myself waking up. My head turns away from the light, but I still feel it heating up my dark brown hair. Soon enough I open my eyes entirely and sit up to get out of the light so I can see my surroundings. I notice immediately that I'm in a bed. I haven't been in a bed for weeks, most likely longer. It seemed I was in some sort of infirmary.

"Finally, you're awake. You scared me." The blonde was sitting on a stool beside the bed. Nothing was making sense, but I did know that I was no longer in a place I have ever been in before, and for some reason the normal pit in my stomach was lessening it's grasp on me. It was as if my body felt safer than usual. Which seemed impossible after everything I've been through.

"Alright, who are you and where am I?" A curious expression falls upon my face as look towards the blonde, while I stretch my arms.

"Ok. I'm Lucy, and you're in Fairy Tail's infirmary." She smiles happily as she speaks.

"Well I'm Arrona, and I'm really fine just needed a nap." I lightly smile to show I'm okay.

"Well then you're almost as bad as Natsu. You were asleep for 4 hours!" She giggles a little without realizing I don't know who Natsu is. "By the way how did you lose so much magic energy?" I'm dumbstruck by the fact she knew that's what left me so weak. My instincts take over as I tell her the truth.

"That room I was locked in. It used magic restraint power throughout the walls." I couldn't tell why my voice sounded so off. It was like I was scared, or more likely embarrassed. This unknown disturbance in my voice leads me turn away from Lucy and look at the floor on the other side of the bed. Then I hear someone enter the doorway to the room. I find myself fighting looking at who it is, afraid it's a new monster of a person controlling this kind Lucy.

"Hey Lucy! Is she up yet?" Once I hear his voice I recognize it as the male who was with Lucy, and turn to see the pink haired man leaning on the door frame to the room. He seems not to notice me as he doesn't turn to look at me or do anything that shows he's noticed me. She responds in a tone that said she was over his incompetence.

"Seriously can't you see that she's awake!" She turns towards him with a confused almost astonished face.

"Well now I can!" He exclaimed loudly. His face contorted into irritation and a sort of growl.

"Hey you were with Lucy when she saved me. What's your name? Mine's Arrona." His face softens as he listens. I remember how he kept Lucy from questioning me about having the man be put in jail be my priority.

"Arrona huh. I'm Natsu." He says my name as to insure he had it right. Then he gave me a big toothy grin showing his canines that looked to be fangs. It gave me a familiar and comforting sense. This feeling was from when I was very little. I wanted to know what it was from, so I let my mind dig into my thoughts trying to track down this feeling. Soon enough I felt myself transforming. I hadn't realized how relaxed I'd been around these people. I told them my real name without a second thought, but their reactions told me that the truth about Arrona had never reached them. I didn't want them to find out and give me to people like the ones who had held me all of my life, or at least since I was old enough to remember. I stopped looking for the feeling, and focused on calming down and staying in control. One deep breath in and out as I closed my eyes, and stopped transforming.

"Arrona are you alright?" Worry pierced Lucy's words. It was clear she felt the energy that radiated off me.

"I'm fine. No need to worry." I gave a slight smile to reassure Lucy. Silence washed over us for a moment as I thought of what to say. "Will you get me some food?"

"Yeah what do you like?" She asked with a smile, as if I didn't just freak out.

"I can't stand sour or spicy. Maybe chicken nuggets." I was clear and excited. She nodded and quickly left. That was when I noticed that Natsu had disappeared during Lucy and I's conversation.

I sat there looking around as the sun set, taking in everything that was going on. I heard the door creak as a short old man in a white fluffy coat walked towards my bed. He climbed onto the stool Lucy was sitting on before, bringing him to my eye level.

"Hello I'm Makarov the master of Fairy tail. I'm glad to see that you are doing well." He smiled happily. I was surprised that the master was here. The fact that Lucy trusted him enough to be part of his guild told me how different a guild was from any place I'd been in.

"I'm Arrona. Why are you here?" I questioned him trying not to sound rude.

"Well I wouldn't be a good master or host if I didn't check on my guest." He smiled sweetly warming the air.

"Thanks I'm doing much better. In a few hours I'll be fine." I let my confidence encourage him I was fine. His demeanor lasted a moment after I spoke. Then he looked down as if another thing troubled him.

"I'm glad to hear that, but do you have a place to stay once you're better?" I was surprised that he was worried about me. I couldn't help but tell him the truth.

"Actually… I have nobody and no place." I claimed almost ashamed for no reason.

"Well I'm sure someone in the guild will help you out. If you would like you could join Fairy Tail and get jobs." He spoke happily as if trying to cheer me up, something no one had ever done for me before.

"That sounds wonderful!" I spoke cheerfully as a smile grew on my face.

"When you go down stairs find Mirajane. She'll give you your guild emblem." He stated happily as he left the room. I was excited and took a moment to take it all in. I heard that guilds worked together and that's what made them dangerous for others. So the idea of being in a safe place that worked together made me feel amazing. Then my thoughts were interrupted by Lucy walking in with a big plate of chicken nuggets.

"Elfman's famous chicken nuggets. Lisanna was quite jealous." She smiled as she put the plate down on my lap. She seemed to have forgotten again that had no idea who those people were. I looked at her happily and then immediately started to eat. Soon enough I was finished. It'd been so long since I had a proper meal.

"So I saw master leaving the infirmary. Did you guys talk?" She asked excited to learn what happened, as she sat back down on the stool next to the bed.

"Yes, he said I could join the guild. He also said that a guild member could help me find a place to live." I look into Lucy's eyes as they shine with excitement. A smile grows on Lucy's face. I stare in wonder.

"I have a spare room!" I was astonished at her glee, but thankful that Lucy was the one I could live with.

"I would love that,..." I trail off as I look down at my dirtied and ripped clothing realizing that I have nothing. "I don't have a bed or clothes." I feel Lucy's hand gently pull my chin up so that our eyes could meet. I see something in her eyes that I can't quite place.

"Don't worry, we'll get what you need. If you really want you can pay me back later." She was truly amazing. I smiled back at her. After a moment of silence that I can't stand I decide to see if I can go get my guild emblem.

"Hey the master said once I was ready I should go down stairs and find Mirajane to get my guild emblem." She nods and stands up motioning for me to follow.


	2. Meeting Fairy Tail

I follow Lucy out of the infirmary and down a hallway with a few closed doors. We stop at the entryway to the balcony. We stand there as I gawk at what's before me. Several fights are going on while others simply sit at tables talking with one another avoiding flying mugs. Before I get to fully take in what's happening in front of me Lucy grabs my arm and runs down the stairs practically dragging me. She weaves through the chaos like it was nothing. We slow down as we approach a bar with a platinum blonde cleaning a mug behind the bar.

"Mira!" Lucy yells as the platinum blonde looks up and smiles at her. Soon enough we are standing before her. Her smile is innocent and reassuring.

"Hey this is our newest guild member!" Lucy excitedly tells the platinum blonde with a stupidly wide grin. The blonde then looks down towards me, as I'm about a headspace shorter than the two woman before me.

"Well hello there, I'm Mirajane, but you can call me Mira. Master told me a new member would come over soon. What's your name?" Mira's smile never changes, and she leaves the same warm feeling as her smile does. Then the words she says sinks in. I told Lucy, Natsu, and Master my name without a second thought, but they were clearly close friends and my saviors. Even with Mira's innocent and reassuring demeanor I have never met her. I have never been able to trust anyone as far as remember, but no one has ever tried to betray me because no one has ever tried to gain my trust. Something as simple as my name has brought destruction so many times before. I couldn't say my name to her... not yet.

"I'm sorry, but you can't know… at least not yet." Irritating me my true voice hides as I speak sheepishly. I look down to avoid looking at the woman, so they can't see the annoyance and shame filling my eyes.

"Oh now don't be silly." Her demeanor doesn't change. I don't know what to do. I try to think of what to say, but before I have the chance Lucy speaks up.

"Hey Mira, Natsu and I found her on the floor of a basement that had magical restraints in the walls. Who knows what else she's been through. Trust that I know what damage a name can do, even though we don't think about it for some people even a name needs trust." Lucy spoke in a tone that was almost the one I heard when she saved me, but it had a more understanding or a sympathetic tone to it. I was in awe. Lucy spoke as if her own name had betrayed her before. I couldn't believe it. It felt like my heart took control of me as I wrapped my arms around Lucy hugging her tightly. I feel a tear fall down my cheek as I close my eyes. Lucy is clearly surprised as her arms spread outwards, and I feel her body strain. Then she falls into the hug as she slowly pets my head lovingly.

"I'm sorry… I really didn't mean to push you. Would you like your guild emblem now Sweetie?" Mira's voice has sadness in it as she tries to cheer me up at the end. I quickly wipe my tears away, and take a deep breath. Letting go of Lucy I turn to Mira and nod yes to her.

"Alright where do you want it?" After noticing Lucy and Natsu's Emblem I wondered where mine should go. I took me less time than I thought it would to decide. I look up at Mira and I point to under my left collarbone. Once Mira nods I move my hand, and let her press the stamp onto my chest. It's magic reaches me. It's calming and warm, unlike any magic I've felt before. There's no sharp pain, terrifying heat, or stinging cold… just a calming warmth. Mira then steps back and puts the stamp away. I smile at the two women happily.

"Thank you." I then turn to Lucy wanting to meet more people. "You mentioned Elfman and Lisanna earlier?" I question Lucy as Mira walks towards the other end of the bar where she's being called. Lucy giggles as I give her a confused look.

"You seem very interested in the Strausses." Lucy notices my look of confusion. "Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna are siblings." I realize what was so funny and giggle as well. She looks around the guild hall, and when she looks back at me she furrowed her eyebrows. In response I raise one of mine own eyebrows. She smiles and turns towards the stairs.

"HEY NATSU!" Lucy's yell surprises me as I look up to see Natsu staring back at us while leaning against the wall near the stairs on the second level.

"WHAT!" Natsu responds just as loudly. Which phases no one as for the loudness of the guild hall.

"WHERE'S LISANNA?"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?" Natsu's voice is filled irritation, but to my surprise I also hear shock and maybe even embarrassment. To top it off Lucy's face contorts into a smirk at Natsu's response.

"BECAUSE EVER SINCE SHE GOT BACK YOU'VE BEEN FOLLOWING HER!" Lucy yells back at Natsu as I watch his face turn bright red, while Lucy's smirk just grows bigger. I can't help but wonder what the hell they were talking about, but I shrug it off as I watch the conversation between the two.

"YEAH RIGHT!" He practically growls at Lucy with her response clearly trying to ignore his embarrassment rising up.

"OH COME ON! NOW, WHERE IS SHE?" Lucy's tone clearly shows how much she enjoys toying with the pink haired man, but this time I hear the slightest bit of irritation or more likely boredness.

"SHE'S IN THE RESTROOM" Natsu quickly states as he glares at Lucy, and walks toward another person on the balcony. Lucy seems to be a little disappointed, but smiles as she notices some one at a table nearby. She grabs my hand and walks us around the guild hall to a table with a giant muscled man. I couldn't tell how tall he was since he was sitting down, but his muscles were enough to show that he was a giant. His bright white hair stood out telling me he must be related to Mira.

"Elfman! This is our newest guild member!" We arrive next to him. Then he turns towards us, so that I can see his rigid face with a scar pulling down from his right eye.

"Hey kid." I have no clue of what to think or say as stare at the burly man in front of me. His is as rough as his appearance. I suddenly remember how I had heard of him.

"Hi… are you the Elfman who made those chicken nuggets?" As it's the only thing I have to ask him about currently I go for it. I looked at him with an eyebrow raised waiting for him to respond.

"Well I usually don't cook for anyone other than my sisters now a days, but it wouldn't be manly to refuse cooking for a young lady." His words make sense in a way, but still my shock or confusion (I can't even tell which) is placed clear on my face. Lucy's giggles shake me out of my trance as I stare at Elfman as he takes a sip from his mug.

A moment later one of the brawls nearby causes he drink to fall over and spill. Just like that he spits out some nonsense about being manly and joins the brawl. I stare in shock at how quickly he got roped into it.

"Hey while we wait for Lisanna I want you to meet Erza." Lucy puts her hand on my shoulder getting my attention. Then she smiles sweetly as motions with her head to follow her. I grab her hand smiling back at her as she leads me through the chaos at a reasonable pace.

"It seems strange but not only is Mirajane older than Elfman I think she might be stronger than him." I look up at Lucy in shock. She just said that the sweet barmaid we met was stronger than the burly man who just joined a brawl because his drink was spilled. Lucy's usual giggle at my awe slipped through her lips once again.

"Well Mirajane actually is an S-class wizard who used to be called The She-Devil." At that moment I stopped dead in my tracks, as yells stating The She-Devil was attacking from those years ago echoed in my head. I remember the explosions that shook the lab enough to break my room, more like a cell, open so I could run into the woods far away from that hell hole. Even though I only ran into another dreadful place nothing could be worse than that hell hole they called a lab. I always wondered who The She-Devil was, and if she was possibly a good person or just another monster attacking other monsters claiming to be human.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed! I'm going to continue posting every Sunday night.**

 **I wanted to thank Alkus & avaiaal for following this story.**

 **I also wanted to thank Alkus & Gabbicat18 for favoriting this story.**

 **Special thanks to Gabbicat18 for reviewing I hope you only find it getting better.**


	3. Mirajane the she-devil

My heart once again stole control of my body as I found myself racing through the guild hall, and then jumping over the bar to hug the startled barmaid. I shut my eyes tightly as tears flowed down my cheeks while I held on tightly to the kind She-Devil who had saved me only three years ago.

I felt the guild's eyes and ears on me wondering what in the world I was doing, but I didn't care. It seemed life was only getting better as I squeezed Mirajane tighter.

After a moment I lessened my grip just enough so I could look up at the barmaid who had no clue what was going on. My tears slowed as I blinked away a few of them. I felt my tears drying onto my cheeks as I lightly smiled, and then picked Mira up. I put her over my shoulder as the guild watched me in shock while I carried her out the doors and towards the woods.

Lucy and other guild members followed me. Once I reached an area I felt was far enough from the guild I gently placed Mira down. She simply stood there in shock. I took a deep breath and turned towards the guild members who stood dead in their tracks a few feet away from me.

"This is a private conversation! Now go back!" I stared down the people before me as I spoke. I was loud as my voice had its normal confidence restored. Just like that Lucy dragged all the members back to the guild.

"What's going on?" Mira's voice to my suprise had its normal sweet tone but fear and worry were mixed in. I turn towards her realizing I must seem insane.

"Three years ago The She-Devil attacked a lab. A ten year old girl had been held in that lab for two years. Explosions blasted her so called room open, so she could run into the forest and away from that hell hole." My voice's shakiness deterred its normal confidence. While speaking I had lowered my head to look at the ground. Tears grazed my cheeks as gravity pulled them to the grassy ground below me. My breathing sounded almost like a wine or whimper.

I felt a soft touch on my cheek that carefully pulled my chin up. I found myself staring into fuzzy tear filled eyes of the woman before me. Her face held a slight smile almost overtaken by the worry that filled her brow. My breathing settled as I looked at with shock or awe maybe even confusion. I'm not quite sure what emotions my face held as tears crossed my cheeks once again.

"I saved so many that day. I never thought that I had missed one. Yet fate has brought you back to me." She spoke quietly as if fighting screaming. Her smile contorted into something I couldn't begin to explain. Tears streamed down her cheeks and fell from her chin out of sight.

I had dreamed of what The She-Devil could possibly look like, and if she had truly saved me or was just going to drag me to another dreadful place. I never imagined the kind hearted woman who stood before me.

"Fate has brought me from dreadful place to dreadful place do to secrets I can't tell even you. My name has betrayed me so many times before, and yet I can't help but say that my name is Arrona. This trust… this feeling I've never had before makes me question everything, but looking at what I now know to be my savior, even if you just saved me from only one dreadful place, I can't help but feel safe. … Thank you." I spoke cautiously as I focused on my emotions. I let my words flow out of me with a weariness of everything I said untainting my courage. I didn't notice our tears slow as we stared at each other only imagining what each other could have been through. We stood there for a moment, and then fell into a hug holding each other tightly as the last of our tears rolled down our cheeks and fell onto the ground. We could have stood there forever in complete understanding, but soon enough we leave each others grasp and intertwine our fingers as we walked back to the guild.

Once we entered the guild I let my hand fall so Mirajane could go to the bar. It seemed Lucy had talked to some people because people were trying not to stare while others just didn't care. I spotted Lucy upstairs next to Natsu eating a chicken leg and a red head with hair as bright as the red tips of my hair. I walked calmly up to them with a smile.

"Hey Lucy! Sorry about that. I'm fine." I spoke with a smile and not a single bit of worry. She turned her head and smiled at me once she heard her name.

"Oh Hey! I want you to meet Erza!" She was as energetic as always. She raised her hand slightly motioning to the redhead she was talking to before.

"Hello, I'm Erza Scarlet. It's nice to meet you. What should I call you?" Lucy had clearly told a few members and probably Natsu and the Master that I didn't want my real name thrown around. It made me happy that Lucy had respect for my wishes. Erza had spoken in a stern tone, but it was riddled with kindness. She stood before me with her bangs slowly trying to cover her right eye, while the rest of her bright red hair fell behind her. She wore armor over her chest and torso along with her arms, but she had a navy blue skirt that was mid thigh on as well. Black almost leather boots went up to her knees.

"Oh you can call me … Elle" The name fell out of my mouth like it was nothing as if I had said it many times before. The name rang through my head with hope as well as forgotten agony. My eyes floated downward while my smile slowly faded as I tried to remember the name. I dug through my thoughts knowing it was from when I was very young. Slowly my magic coursed through my veins again. Every cell in body beginning to change. I quickly realized I was transforming again and let the thoughts slip away as I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. The magic depleted and my cells rested.

"Elle are you ok?" Erza voice held its same sternness but instead of a kind undertone worry laced her voice. I open my eyes returning my smile, and ignoring what that name might have meant to me.

"I'm fine just got lost in my thoughts. No reason to worry." I looked at her with a smile as my voice claimed its natural confidence once again.

"Well I'm glad to hear that." Her voice came back to its original stern but kind tone. This only made my smile bigger. I wondered what to do now.

"Hey Lisanna! Come Over Here!" I heard Lucy yell across the guild. I look at her with a bit of curiosity as she waves her hand in the air. Soon enough I spot a girl about Lucy's age with short bright white hair climbing up the stairs towards us. She wore a light blue long sleeve sweater curiously paired with short dark green denim shorts.

"Hey! What's Up?" Once the girl reached us she smiled as looked at Lucy with a curious smile.

"I want you to meet the newest member of Fairy Tail!" Lucy excitedly exclaimed as she motions towards me.

"Hi! You can call me Elle! What about you?" I have a slight almost sly smile as look at the short haired platinum blonde.

"Hello, My name's Lisanna. It's nice to meet you Elle." Her voice was just as sweet as Mira's. I could tell that they were related. Her smile made my smile grow. "So you must be very new. How did you find Fairy Tail?" It was clear she had no idea. I noticed Lucy wince worried that I would get upset, but I'm not that kind a person. Lisanna didn't understand and that was ok.

"Lucy and Natsu saved me from someone, who used me as a sort of servant, on their last job." I see her face contort into fearful worry. "No worries. I get it. You didn't know." Her face softened slightly, but there was still something there. It was confusion.

"I know it's probably not my place, but I don't understand what you mean by a sort of servant." Lisanna's voice matched her face as she quieted. Her eyes drifted towards the floor, clearly trying to avoid my face and reaction. She did catch me a little off guard, but I was glad someone was trying to understand.

"No it's fine. My magic is incredibly strong as well as dangerous. I was used to destroy a lot of things. That's why I'm not going to use my magic or say exactly who I am until absolutely necessary." I tilt my head to make my understanding smile easier for her to see. She glances at me weary of what to do and say.

"Oh… well… I hope you feel safe at Fairy Tail, and know that we won't make you do anything you don't want to." She looked at me with understanding in her eyes. Yet she still didn't quite face me, but I'm a complete mystery that apparently has dangerous magic. I guess some people don't think I can be trusted either. Honestly that was comforting. This simple thing gave me hope for humans. These people weren't mindlessly trusting, and they weren't the monster like humans I've met before. These people were wonderful and new in the best ways.

"Hey… Let's go get you some clothes now." Lucy's hand fell onto my shoulder as she smiled down at me. I met her gaze, then looked down at my rags. Had I really just made my first impression like this? I notice the chains still wrapped around my ankles and wrists no longer connected to anything. Lucy noticed my grimace as I raised my chains so I could clearly see them.

"I'm sorry. We could only get them off by force, and I wanted your permission to use dangerous magic so close to you." Her eyes squinted as they slowly looked beside me. While her shoulders tensed as she shrunk into an almost stupid related embarrassment form. Yet I was thankful. They hadn't seen my scars.

"It's okay. We'll get them off later. Right now I want something that actually looks reasonable." I shrug her words off as I grab her hand excited to get clothes. She smiles and nods as we walk out of the guild hall.

We shop for hours. Once we have dinner we head home. Then I enter the very nice apartment. I shine with excitement looking around at the perfect place.

"Come with me. I'll show you your room." Lucy smiles at me grabbing my hand and walking me down a very short hallway. With one swift movement she opens the door. A bed with pale tan and blue sheets sits in the middle, with a lovely full length mirror on one of the walls, and an old white dresser stands across from it.

"It's not much, but I convinced Grey to put this together while you were out with Mira." She smiled at me with the biggest smile ever that gleamed through her eyes too. I looked in awe as I slowly walked into my room! A real room, that I could leave or enter whenever I wanted!

"It's wonderful! I love every bit of it!" I slowly walk through the small room admiring every last thing about it. I the put my bags down on top of the wooden white chest at the foot of my bed.

"Well I'm glad you like it, but it's time for bed. I'll close the door so you can get into your pajamas and go to sleep." She smiled at me as she turned around closing the door behind her.

I sat on my bed and stared at my outfit. I was still in rags, and the chains were still wrapped around me. I had completely forgotten. No wonder people kept staring at us. I giggled at my realization. Then I took my right hand and pressed it against the chains covering my left wrist. I let some of my magic heat it up, using as little as possible. The metal reddened, glowing. Soon enough I was able to just snap it off. I continued to quickly use the heat that had reached the right wrists chain and the hot metal from the broken one to snap off the right wrists chain. Continuing on I heated my ankle chains with my right hand until I could snap them off. I only used my right hand because I had less control with my left, and wasn't going to risk anything tonight. Once the metal cooled I put it in the chest I had previously placed my bags on. Then I took my clothes out of the bags folding them and putting them into my dresser.

There was a small trash can near my mirror I put the tags and plastic bags in to keep my room clean. I looked at my wrists and tenderly caressed them strained from the chains. The skin was bumpily scarred. I never scarred easily. The only reason my wrists and ankles were like this was because of everything. Restraints and chains, ropes and more had cut, bruised, and scratched me leaving wound after wound. Once a scab finally healed it was replaced by another injury. Now that was no longer the case. Now I realized it never had to be the case, and it never would again.

 **Special thanks to Alkus and Gabbicat18 for favoriting this story. Also special thanks to Alkus and aviaal for following.**

 **Finally specaail thanks again to Gabbicat18 for reviewing. I hope you continue to enjoy this story.**


	4. Getting ready for a new day

On instinct I woke up. The light lacrima filled the room with light. I slowly stretched, and made my way out of bed. It was so nice to sleep in a comfortable bed. I yawned as I stood up and slowly went to the door of my room.

As I walked down the hallway the sweet scent of some sort of tea engulfed me. I entered the living room to see Lucy ready for the day sitting on the couch reading. She noticed me and turned my way. Lucy smiled at me as she put her book down while I rubbed my eyes.

"Good Morning Arrona! I hope you slept well!" Lucy smiled as she spoke sweetly. I smiled back at her and nodded that I slept well.

"So what's the plan for today?" I question her with a slight smile. After the excitement of yesterday I couldn't help but wonder what I'd learn and do today.

"Oh well I got ready while I let you sleep in. Anyways I was wondering if you wanted me to make some breakfast or we could go get breakfast at the guild?" She was happy but almost a little worried. I smiled back at her excited, but I was also trying to cheer her up a little.

"I'm glad you asked! I would love to go to the guild and meet some more people!" I smiled at her excitedly. I only met a few members yesterday, and I couldn't wait to meet the rest of them.

"Alright. I have some tea brewing for us for the walk to the guild, but you should get ready first. You can take a shower, the bathroom is free." She points to my pajamas as she speaks. I realize and smile as I walk towards my bedroom to get my towel that Lucy bought for me yesterday.

I close my door behind me. I carefully take my pajamas off and put them into my laundry hamper, that was next to my dresser. Grabbing my towel I wrap it around me. I also grab my hair towel as I leave my room. Entering the bathroom the lacrima lights up. Making sure the door is closed so no one can see me as I hang up my towels. I take a deep breath as I touch my ankles. The bumpy scars bring back dreadful memories, but it also reminds me how lucky I am to be here with Lucy. I relish in the fact that I'm not covered in scars as I turn on the shower.

I make sure the water is cool, and slowly warm it up as I wash myself. It's so nice being able to control the temperature of the water. I remember when I first got to the lab.

* * *

I refused to take off my clothes, so they tore my clothes off me. I was forced into a small room. It had a drain in the center of the damp floor. I noticed the shower faucet at the top of the room. I was scared, and wanted my clothes back. I wanted to leave.

Then the faucet turned on… steaming water streamed out of it. It felt like thousands of hot knives trying to pierce my skin, but only leaving invisible hot scars. I screamed in pain as I stepped out of the boiling stream of water only for a second faucet I hadn't noticed on the other side to turn on as well. I was trapped in a room filled with boiling water trying to cut me, but only bringing pain. I began to curl into a ball to keep as much of the water away from me as I could. A booming stern voice interrupted my movements.

"You will stand up and clean yourself. The water will sterilize your skin." Someone was clearly watching me, but I couldn't tell how. I was only eight, but had been through so much. I had already felt pain much worse than the water, so I did as told.

* * *

Here I could control the water. I was safe. Then suddenly the water… became hot. Could I still be at the lab? Everything. Could it all have been some sort of dream or hallucination? My mind went racing trying to figure out why the water wouldn't cool down.

"Ahhhhh! PLEASE! I PROMISE I'M CLEAN! NOOOOO!" I screamed begging for the water to stop. Then the water turned off, and arms wrapped around me. Lucy dragged me to the carpet outside the shower. She hugged me as tears continued to flow down my cheeks.

"Arrona. You're okay. You didn't do anything wrong. I promise you're safe." I had stopped screaming once the water turned off, but my breathing was still labored. My mind now couldn't tell what was going on. Lucy was clearly scared. She was calming her voice trying to influence me, but her fear seeped through no matter how hard she tried.

"Is this real?" I stare into her eyes. Our emotions flooded each other finding a way to calm both of us down. Hope, worry, fear, and so much more fell into a calming sense between Lucy and I.

"Yes, all of this real. You're safe. How can I help you?" She slowly helps me up as she speaks. Her words fill me with joy. No one has ever said that to me. How can I help you?

"I'm fine now. I just need to get dressed." There is still an unsteadiness to my voice, but it was clear it was only because I was getting my breath back. I smile at her as she realizes I'm naked and soaking wet from the shower. She quickly wraps my towel around me. I nod at her in thanks, and with that she leaves the bathroom.

Once the door closes I hear Lucy yell. "NATSU! GET YOUR ASS HERE NOW!" It seems she believes Natsu was the cause of the boiling shower. To my surprise I hear a Natsu stumble over things.

"Hey Lucy! Wait why are you dressed?" Natsu's words shock me into wondering what the hell normally happens.

"Because I wasn't in the shower! You idiot! Arrona was scared out of her mind!" I could feel the glare Lucy was giving Natsu, but it still doesn't quite make sense. "No More Pranks! I swear if you pull another prank, any prank, in this apartment I will personally ensure that Mirajane drives hell into you!"

"Yes Ma'am." Natsu's voice was filled with fear. Clearly the thought of Mirajane going after him was not a pleasant one. I giggle as I make my way to my room.

"Now, you will either leave this apartment or sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing, until we head for the guild." Lucy's voice was almost as stern as Erza's as I catch a glimpse of her glaring Natsu down while pointing to the couch. Then I hear Lucy's footsteps heading towards her room after a moment.

I close the door to my room, and hang my body towel up on the small bar above my dresser. Quickly I put on underwear as I study my clothing options. With a gleeful smile I pick my outfit and get dressed.

I look in the mirror once I'm dressed. I have brushed and dried my hair. It falls along my sides in slight waves reaching just above my hips. The teal skirt I'm wearing goes mid-thigh in the front while the back reaches the back of my knees. Its high waist perfectly lines up with my one sleeved shirt, so you can clearly see my guild emblem. The right sleeve is a simple strip that has a sheer fabric that attached it to the same white blue fabric the shirt was made of that was wrapped around my scarred wrist. To cover my left wrist I found a long elastic red and teal bracelet. To finish my outfit I wore dark brown boots that matched the top of my hair, and were just a bit higher than the scars on my ankles.

Smiling I walked into the living room to see a pouting Natsu sitting on the couch with his arms crossed staring at the ground. Lucy was in the kitchen area pouring some tea into travel cups for the three of us.

"Well well did someone get caught?" I mockingly cross my arms and pout at Natsu. He glances at me clearly upset.

"You don't seem scared to me." Natsu grumbled his words as he turned away from me. I glared at him ready to tell him off, but before I could Lucy walks over and puts a travel cup on the coffee table in front of Natsu.

"Oh come on don't take out the fact you can't pull anymore pranks out on Arrona." Lucy scolds Natsu before I can, clearly noticing my glare. She then turns to me and hands me my own travel mug with a smile. "Now let's go. I bet both of you are really hungry."

I see a slight gleam in Natsu's eyes as he grabs the cup in front of him and stands up. I then nod at Lucy with excitement already heading towards the door. With that Natsu follows me.

 **Special Thanks to Alkus, Gabbicat18, and mercawesomeness for favoriting this story.**

 **Special Thanks as well to Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, and mercawesomeness for following this story.**

 **I know I've already thanked Gabbicat18 for reviewing, but I just wanted to say thank you again, and that I hope they continue to enjoy the story.**

 **I have a lot of ideas and I would love to hear what you guys think. I will continue posting every Sunday night, so I'll talk to you guys next week.**


	5. The kids my age

"Good Morning!" Mira greets us from behind the bar as we enter the guild hall. Lucy leads us to the bar. We then order our breakfast. I couldn't keep track of the others orders because I was busy thinking of what I should order. Then I decided on 2 pancakes, some eggs, and a waffle.

"Hello, you must be the new member that I set up the room for yesterday." I had just finished licking my plate clean, which to my surprise no one cared about, when a young man that looked about Natsu's age and height spoke to me. He had short dark black blue hair that was spikily ruffled. The next things I noticed were that he was only wearing pants, a belt, and a silver necklace. I confusedly looked up at the man, hiding my excitement for how I'm going to mess with him.

"Hmm I vaguely remember Lucy mentioning someone, but I'm pretty sure you require a shirt to talk to people under 18, including me." My face contorts into a slight smirk as I flash my eyes at him. I hear Natsu burst into laughter behind me as I now face the shirtless man.

"OH COME ON! NOT AGAIN! I'm sorry, well anyways I'm Grey." He looks down and yells, then quickly ignores it and just apologizes. Totally ignoring what I just told him, going with his original plan. That's when I noticed Lucy watching us with curiosity and Natsu was still lost in laughter. This was going to be fun.

"Well Grey I'm glad you're sorry, but you still don't seem to get it. I would say thank you for putting my room together, and say that you can call me Elle, but I'm 13 and you're still not wearing a shirt." I give him a sly smile that might have been considered a smirk. He then looks at me in shock as if it was amazing I would keep on joking around.

"Shit! How did I get bested by a 13 year-old?" Grey speaks clearly irritated and confused. I won and my smile grew. Behind me Lucy fought giggling while Natsu was finally starting to calm down.

"That was priceless! Nice try ice breath!" Natsu pointed at Grey as he tried to irritate him. Grey's attention turned to Natsu glaring at him.

"Yeah! This just proves you're dumber than a 13 year-old. Flame brain!" Grey angrily retorted back. Lucy continued fighting her giggles as the boys started to brawl.

"Well Lucy I've been hearing that there might be some people about my age around here?" I turned towards Lucy with a smile. I excitedly waited for her response, because when I think about it I've never actually met anyone my age.

"Yeah Romeo and Wendy are about your age… ROMEO!" I was happy to hear that until she screamed in my face causing me to lean back. After a moment I looked in the direction Lucy screamed to see a boy a bit shorter than me walking towards us. He had dark purple black hair and was wearing a red vest with nothing underneath. He paired it with a yellow scarf.

"Sup Lucy!" The boy happily responds to the blonde once he's a few steps away.

"Hello! Call me Elle." I sarcastically blurt hello in his face because he didn't seem to notice me. I watch his eyes widen, feet plant themselves on the ground, and lean his face back. I can't help but giggle at his response as I take a step back giving him some room.

"Hi... Elle? When… Where did you come from?" His eyebrows furrowed as his words stumbled. He was clearly speaking at the speed his mind was processing my outburst. I tilted my head slightly as I smiled at his antics.

"Long story, wait no. Lucy and Natsu saved me yesterday and now I'm part of Fairy Tail!" I spoke quickly excited to meet a boy my age. He blinked for a moment taking in my words. Then he smiled at me.

"I'm Romeo if you didn't notice. Anyways it seems you fit in perfectly." He slightly chuckles as he speaks. Then I notice something heading towards the back of his head. I automatically grab the back of his head with my left hand pushing him next to me while I grab the flying mug with my right hand.

Once the mug was securely in my hand I felt two hands grab right under my left shoulder on my arm. In an instant I find my back hitting the bar counter with a thundering thud. My feet hung from the counter. My head hung upside-down with my hair nearly touching the ground. Then I notice everyone staring at us. I slowly blink back into understanding for a moment.

"Well I'm glad your head doesn't hurt." I stated raising the mug in my right hand. Quickly getting up so I can look at the boy. I find myself sitting on the bar counter with my feet dangling. My tone was somewhere in between sarcasm and are you kidding me. He looks in awe at what he just did, blushing.

"I'm so sorry!" He slowly spoke still in shock of what just happened. I bring my feet up to sit criss-cross-applesauce on the bar counter, and smile to show I'm fine. With that everyone goes back to their crazy antics. Along with Lucy who was engulfed in a conversation with a petite light blue-haired girl.

"It's alright. I get it. You have good reflexes just like me. It's kind of funny how a flying mug created a chain reaction of reflexes. I want to say you're strong for your age, but I've never met someone our age." I smile at him as I put the mug down beside me and scratch my back.

"I'm really sorry! I wish there was something I could do, but I have to go do chores. If I'm not back soon I will get in so much trouble." He frantically speaks as he begins to leave. He got halfway to the guild doors when I remembered I didn't know who Wendy was, and had lost Lucy.

"WAIT! Who's Wendy?!" I yell just loud enough for him to turn around. I walk towards him noticing he's not going to walk back over. I notice him turn towards a table near the middle of the guild hall.

"Wendy is the dark blue-haired girl at that table. I'm sorry, but I have to go." He speaks quickly and within a moment he's out the doors. I stare at the girl he pointed to. Her hair truly was a dark blue, but not any shade I'd ever seen before. It was close to a navy or midnight blue but seemed to have a brightness to it that was surprisingly stunning, and it was pulled up in two high side ponytails. Yet it matched her dark red long sleeve shirt. Slowly I walk over to her quickly noticing she's engulfed in drawing something.

"Hello…" My simple statement got her attention. Her face went red as she saw me trying to look at her picture from over her shoulder. Her arms quickly covered her drawing as she turned to look up at me.

"Hi… What are you doing here?" She stutters trying to get a handle on herself. Once I smile sweetly some of the redness in her face slowly diminishes. At that I decided I should tell her to call me Elle, but I get distracted. I notice a white cat walking on its two back legs, wearing clothes, with her paws on her hips. This cat walks on the table making their way towards Wendy and I. And out of all the things the cat could've done, it spoke!

"Now Wendy, that's not how you properly introduce yourself or respond to someone saying hello." I stared in awe. The cat just talked, not only did it talk, it scolded Wendy.

"I'm sorry Charle. It's just…"

"Now wait a minute… Wendy didn't do anything wrong! It's normal for her to be embarrassed or scared when someone takes notice of something she's not sure about. Especially someone she doesn't know. And that is no polite way to enter a conversation!" The moment after Wendy said I'm sorry I had to step in. I don't care who this is. She shouldn't make Wendy feel bad for a natural reaction. Wendy's face had become bright red as she looked at Charle and I. I was confusedly irritated as I glared at Charle while she looked up at me with wide eyes at my outburst.

"Young lady! Your attitude is outrageous! You should apologize now for your" No way was she saying this!

"No! I don't need to apologize! Just because you act proper does not mean you are polite! You interrupted our conversation, scolded Wendy, and then act like I'M AT FAULT! NO WAY!" I had my hands gripping the table keeping me from falling and from doing something incredibly stupid. For I had migrated to the end of the table. Charle glared at me as she walked towards me, forcing me to step away from the table. I saw the cat take one step off the table before she was engulfed by a bright white light. After blinking a bit the light disappears and a young lady just barely taller than me appears. Her clothes are the same as the cat's and she has similar ears and a tail. I looked in shock at the girl before me with wide eyes and a slightly opened mouth. The girl forced me to look up at her as she stood close enough to hug me.

"Listen here, I don't know who you are, but I'm just trying to help Wendy get over her shyness. You are overreacting!" I gathered my breath as I stared, whatever she is, straight in the eyes. Intimidation acts don't work on me. I took a small step back so our eyes were level.

"Bull! Your rules and ideals just put more pressure on her. Get over yourself. I don't know what she thinks or what she wants, but I do know that no one should have to apologize for being embarrassed or scared." I was livid. My ideals that I've held back all my life flowed out of me. We continued glaring at each other because neither of us knew what to say or do now. Gladly Wendy stood up and walked in between us. She pushed us apart as she looked at both of us.

"You two don't need to start a fight. Can't you tell that both of you are overreacting?" She is clearly nervous as she stands between us. Yet her voice is clear and unwavering. I lose my glare and replace it with a simple understanding smile. To my surprise Charle speaks up before I have a chance.

"I'm sorry. I guess you are correct. I did overreact." Charle looks at the ground clearly embarrassed.

"Yeah I'm sorry too. I do have a bad habit of overreacting. Anyways call me Elle." I look up at the two girls in front of me with a smile as I introduce myself. Quickly this moment is interrupted by a groggy brunette who's approaching us.

"How are you guys louder than everybody, and yet no ones starring you all down." She speaks groggily as she rubs her head. I look at her with pure confusion, and finally find my voice after a moment.

"Who are you?" I raise my eyebrows at her because of having no idea of what to do. Gladly Wendy speaks clarifying just a few things.

"Well Cana it seems you're finally up. I'm sorry if we accidently woke you up, but honestly I don't know how you were able to sleep with all this chaos. Especially since you must have a hangover." Wendy spoke sweetly as she looked up at the brunette that's apparently called Cana.

"Yeah I passed out hard last night, and have a heck of a headache, but I've had a lot worst. Now who's the new girl causing all the ruckus?" Wendy smiles and slightly taps my arm telling me it's my turn. Some confusion drifts from my face as look up at Cana.

"Well Cana… People around here call me Elle." I state this with a smile as I wait for her to say something. It's clear she's a drinker and a well known one around here, but I don't know much else about her.

"Nice to meet ya Elle. Now how do you fit in?" Her words take me completely off guard as none of it makes sense. To my surprise Wendy notices my confusion and speaks up for me.

"Well… she holds her own with… words." Wendy spoke up, then quickly realized had no idea of what to say, but made it through pausing at some parts. Wendy fiddled with her fingers as she spoke switching between looking up at Cana and looking down at the floor or her fingers.

"Huh? You mean like Levy?" Cana raises her eyebrows at Wendy while she talks. Wendy suddenly looks up at her as if she just had the most brilliant idea. Wendy's face was filled with excitement, and had a special gleam in her eyes that shown through as something completely different but unreadable. I so wish I could say something, but all I could do is stare blankly at the scene before me.

"No no. She doesn't use script magic. She doesn't even use violence or any magic as far as I've seen. She uses words, but not like Levy or Lucy. What I mean is not in an intellectual, but as if she can find pressure points in people's personalities to get her point through to them." Her face changes as she works through the right words leaving me and Cana completely dumbstruck. Her face reddening half way through as she stares down at her fiddling fingers. I watch taking in the words. After a moment Cana nodded in understanding.

"That's cool. It seems you've taken a real liken to her. Anyways my head is pounding so I'm just gonna go get a beer." Wendy's face turns bright red, and she completely zones out. While I seem to just zone back in. Cana has a hangover that's giving her a headache, so she goes to get a beer! She points to the bar and waves goodbye, but I grab her arm before she gets two steps away.

"Hey! You are not going to get a beer!? You need water and food if you have a hangover." Cana quickly turns around at my words. She carries the most awestruck expression I've ever seen. If this was how she normally functions I'm surprised she's alive.

"I'll be fine. I'll have some later." Cana shakes herself out of her astonishment, and gets her arm out of my grip. She continues heading towards the bar as if nothing happened. I find myself glaring at her as I follow her and take a seat next to her at the bar. At that moment I figure out the perfect plan, and before Cana can even get a word out I get Mira's attention and order for her.

"So Mira, Cana is going to have a big glass of water and some toast to start. Once she finishes that she can have whatever she pleases." I give Mira the biggest smile ever. The responses to my words were quite funny if I say so myself. Cana slowly turns towards me and gives me a death glare as Mira hides her chuckles with her hand.

"Of course right away! I will take the full order into consideration." Mira gleams as she quickly rushes into the kitchen with a smile. After a moment Cana realizes what the she-devil had said and groans laying her head on the table.

"Alright. Now that that's set up I'm gonna go see what Lucy's up to. Nice meeting you Cana." With a smile and a wave I walk away to go see Lucy, so she can introduce me to some more people.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this long chapter.**

 **Special Thanks to Alkus, Gabbicat18, mercawesomeness, & sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **Special Thanks to Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, & xMiyazono for following.**

 **I hope everone enjoys, and please reveiw/comment what you think or any things you would like to see me include. Talk to you all next week!**


	6. A new adventure?

Soon enough I found Lucy hanging out with the petite light blue-haired girl at a table in the corner. Sitting down at the table with a big smile and a loud "Hello!" I got their attention real quick.

"So Lucy will you introduce me to this lovely lady?" In a happy tone that was wavering on sarcastic I asked Lucy. The light blue-haired girl leaned back a little, and stared at me with wide eyes. Lucy blinked once then quickly realized what was going, and fought back a giggle.

"Well, Elle this is Levy. She's my best friend." Her smile widened as she spoke. Levy was blinking back into reality. A small smile then appeared on Levy's face. With this Lucy went back to fighting off giggles.

"Hello, It's Elle right? I haven't seen you around, but clearly you're a member of Fairy Tail." I nod Levy a yes to my name, and she continues on. As she finishes her statement she points to my guild mark. My smile widens as I remember the proof that's plastered on me. I remember the feeling of magic, and how calming and warm it was. After a moment I come back and speak up.

"Yeah, Lucy and Natsu found me on their job yesterday, then I joined Fairy Tail!" I watched Levy take in the information with a smile. It's so nice to have so many people to talk to that actually listen. An excited Levy interrupted my thoughts.

"Wow. How old are you? Where did they find you? Why did you want to join Fairy Tail? Had you always lived where they found you?" The questions left me speechless, as I watched the demeanor of the girl before me change. Her eyes widened along with her smile. A sparkle of pure interest shown though her. This change along with the questions also changed Lucy's demeanor slightly. Lucy quickly and gently pushed Levy back into her chair, as she had leaned in towards me.

"Levy! How many times have I told you one question at a time! And you have to remember she's allowed to not answer some of them." Lucy scolded Levy. I came back with interest. Poor Levy turned bright red as she realized what she had done was invasive. I giggled and decided to calm both the girls instead of causing trouble.

"Hey, It's okay. She's curious, aren't we all? Anyways I'm 13 years old, only people I truly trust know my name everyone else calls me Elle. I joined Fairy Tail because I had nowhere to go, and I've never met kind people like the ones here. For the other 2 questions those are a bit more complicated." I winced at having to figure out what I should and could tell them. Levy continued to stare in wonder as she processed my words, but Lucy noticed my discomfort. She tried speaking up, but I stopped her by putting my hand up in front of her face.

"Don't worry Lucy. I know what I'm saying. So… I haven't lived where they found me my whole life. They saved me from a wealthy man who used me as his servant, slave, person. He pissed me off a couple weeks ago, so I retaliated by destroying over half his mansion before he got magic restraints on me. Then he put me in a basement room that had magic restraints embedded in the walls. He threw some food down every once in a while. Lets just say I wasn't a happy camper. I was able to break the chains off the wall, but I couldn't get them off my wrists and ankles. Soon the magic depletion was too much and I could barely stand, but then Lucy came. She was horrified at the fact anyone would do this. She carried me up, I passed out and they brought me here." Lucy was stopped dead in her tracks even when my hand went down. I shrugged my words off as I spoke. Levy's eyes widened, and her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about what I said. Lucy's face became purely pitying, and Levy realized what I said. She became speechless as horror flooded her face at my words. I vaguely smiled trying to calm them down.

"I'm so sorry… I didn't know." Levy stuttered as tears started to fill her eyes. It pained me to see her and Lucy trying to imagine what I've been through.

"Don't worry you two. That's over, and I'm okay now." I smile at them, and against most of my thoughts I used my emotion based magic to calm them down. Levy wipes her tears away and begins to smile back me. Lucy smiles at me as well. It seems neither of them noticed my magic gladly.

"Well then, I was wondering if you wanted to go on a job with Natsu and I." Lucy quickly changed the subject. Slowly Levy fell into reading a book. I had heard about jobs, and I couldn't wait to go on one. Then the most brilliant idea came up, and was 10 times more excited.

"That sounds awesome! Can I invite Wendy to come along to?" I excitedly brought out my idea. Lucy was taken back, but quickly found herself and giggled a little before answering.

"It seems you did find a way to meet her. Of course you can. I've got to go track down Natsu. Meet me in our apartment in an hour." She smiles at me. When I nod in understandment she waves and walks away. I wave goodbye to Levy even though she's lost in her book. Then I quickly head back towards Wendy. With a smile I sit on the table right next to Wendy.

"Sup Wendy!" Wendy's head pops up in surprise. Her face turns bright red just like before. She turns to me then realizes who I am, and takes a breath then smiles at me.

"Oh Hey Elle! What's up now?" The red quickly diminishes as she smiles at me.

"Wendy I was wondering if you would like to go on a job with Lucy, Natsu, and I today?" Her eyebrows raise at my question, and the redness returns. I can't help but to giggle at her response. Slowly she calms down.

"Well I have nothing else to do so I guess I'll go. It sounds fun." She stutters through her words. She looks at her twiddling fingers as she speaks. I continue to fight back giggles as I watch her respond.

"Come on. Then will you help me find my way back to Lucy's apartment. I'm supposed to meet them there in about an hour." I vaguely wince while telling her I don't quite know my way around. I see the redness on her cheeks disappear yet again as she slightly giggles. Her head rises as calms herself.

"Well than I guess I don't have a choice but to help you out." She smiles back at me as she stands up and gathers her drawing supplies. I happily hop of the table, and let her lead the way out the guild.

 **I'm so sorry! I was busy and then I completely blanked, but I got it up now.**

 **Thanks so much to Alkus, Gabbicat18, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **Thanks so much to Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following. I hope you all continue to enjoy.**


	7. the first job

The walk with Wendy to Lucy's apartment was quite nice. She elaborated on jobs and how the guild works. When we finally reached the apartment we found that Lucy and Natsu beat us there. Lucy made us pack things like snacks and water. Soon she brought us to a wagon and Natsu whined and begged for us to walk.

"No Natsu! It will only take an hour by wagon. This way it will be done and we will be home by tonight." She was clearly aggravated as she tried putting Natsu in his place. We found ourselves in a wagon soon enough.

Lucy was writing with patience while Natsu laid on the floor fighting puking. I couldn't believe that this was Natsu. Then I noticed Wendy. She was sitting quietly staring out the window. She looked pale and never looked away from the window.

"Hey Wendy you okay? You look a little pale." She never stopped staring out the window. She breathed in deeply before answering me.

"Yeah… just haven't been on a wagon in a while." Her words were quiet, and she barely opened her mouth. I stared at her confusedly worried. Her words did not convince me one bit, but Lucy's giggling distracted me. I turned to see the blonde hide her small giggles behind her hand. She noticed the look on my face and quickly calmed herself.

"You see Wendy and Natsu both use Dragon Slayer Magic. This type of magic is very powerful so to balance this out once they have a certain amount of power they gain severe motion sickness. Wendy just gained this so-called weakness, so we've let her take her time to get use to it. In other words we've let her avoid modes of transportation more often than usual. We don't grant Natsu this courtesy because as far as I can tell he has had to deal with it since he was a child." She smiles brightly as she finishes her explanation. My face morphs to show something along the lines of astonishment that was shown through a small smile of understanding. I turn to look back at Wendy, and come up with an idea.

I go into my bag and take out the water bottle Lucy forced me to bring. Lucy looks at me with pure confusion. With a smile I hand the water bottle in Wendy's general direction.

"Hey Wendy. Have some water. Small sips should help." I continue smile at her, and she actually looks away from the window. She's still pale, but she holds up a small smile with her mouth closed as she slowly grabs my water. Then she simply turns back to the window, and takes a tiny sip while barely opening her mouth.

"Hey! What about me?" Natsu tries glaring at me, but instead curls up trying not to puke. I turn to him with look stating are you serious. When he manages to glare at me again I rub my head in disbelief at how idiotic he was being.

"No you can barely speak. Trying to get you to swallow anything right is purely stupid. If you really want some help just take deep breaths through your nose." He tries growling at me, but to my surprise and I'm pretty sure Lucy's to he actually does what I told him to. We continue on like this.

Lucy lead us to city hall where we met the mayor.

"Hello we're the Fairy Tail Wizards. I'm Lucy, the pick-haired one is Natsu, the 2 younger ones are Wendy and Elle." She points to each one of as she introduces us. I smile and wave at him. He nods back with a smile.

"It's very nice to meet you all. I'm Lettel Richard, the mayor of this town. I hired you because there is a monster attacking the routes into town. It's taking and eating all food and livestock. I'm so thankful you responded to my request. With winter approaching and our supplies dwindling a town wide famine will fall upon us." He was ecstatic, but as he reached his last sentence worry fell over him. This caused confusion to fall upon me.

"What do you mean this a simple job, taking down one monster? If we didn't respond I'm sure others would have soon enough." I looked him straight in the eye as he was only a bit taller than me. He was a little taken back by my words. Lucy's hand on my shoulder caught my attention though. I turn around to look up at her.

"Actually most wizarding guilds aren't as strong as us, and monsters can be dangerous. Along with that the reward is small for taking down a monster." I was astonished and understanding. Her reasons were good. At first this brought me down, but then I realized that's what we're here for.

"Well although I haven't been with Fairy tail for long I can tell what it was made for. It was made to give people hope, to share happiness, to give people a family when they don't have one, and to help people who need it." I looked up at the people before me with a smile as I finished. Natsu hand landed on my head as he scruffed my hair nodding with a smile in agreement.

"So anything we should know about this so-called monster before we head out?" I turn towards the mayor with a sweet smile.

"Yes, It's very fast. People have only noticed it as a blur or strong wind, and it never directly attacks people." With his words we all nod in understandment, and head towards the road we were told to.

 **Sorry for the short chapter. Next week's will be much longer and more interesting.**

 **Thanks to Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following.**

 **Thanks to Alkus, Gabbicat18, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**


	8. Well that was interesting

We got to the road in a matter of minutes. The road was slightly forested, and even though it was practically the middle of the day it was completely barren. We all stood in the middle of the empty road for a moment.

"Now what?" I put my hands on my hips and face Lucy. She looks at me with uncertainty, but before she gets a chance to answer something or someone runs into me.

Almost instantaneously I find myself flat on my back on the ground with my wrists pinned on either side above my head. I found a pair of legs straddling my hips, and what surprised me the most was the wisps of bright dark blue hair above my shoulders threatening to tickle my ears. Once me and Wendy's eyes meet a bright red blush engulfs her face. She was close enough to kiss, but I wouldn't say such a thing in fear that Wendy would faint right then and there from embarrassment. She quickly gets off of me and sits beside me, and attempts to hide in her bangs.

"I'm so s-sorry. I didn't mean an… There was changes… and I'm so sorry!" She stuttered through her words having absolutely no idea what to say. Lucy and Natsu just stared in shock at us. I sit up criss cross applesauce and slowly get a grip on what just happened.

"Well… it seems I keep finding myself in awkward positions with the kids my age." I give a weak almost sheepish smile to the people standing above me and Wendy. Lucy slowly bursts into laughter after trying to hold it back while Natsu stares blankly in confusion at the scene before him. Seriously it was unbelievable how obtuse he could be. I let myself glimpse at Wendy to see that somehow her face had grown redder.

"So Wendy, why did you tackle me?" Her eyes widen as she turns to look me in the face. After a deep breath she seems to find the right words.

"I felt the wind gather around something, presumably the creature. Then it started heading towards you, so I pushed you out of the way." She stared at her fidgeting fingers. She uses her bangs to try to hide the blush covering her face still. I simply hid my mouth in my hand to attempt not to chuckle.

"Wendy, you do realize you might have just saved Elle?" Lucy simply smiled at Wendy trying to reassure everything was alright. I noticed Wendy's blush diminish a bit more as she nodded in understanding.

"Well Thanks then. It's time to take it down now." I stood up as I spoke to Wendy. Then I put my hand towards her to help her up. After a moment she gathers a faint smile, and takes my hand to get up. Lucy and Natsu began arguing because Natsu wanted to take it down, but his way would burn down the trees.

I got lost in thought because of what Wendy said. It doesn't seem like a big deal to most, but she must have noticed me calling it a so-called monster. She took account of such a minuet detail, and referred to it as a creature.

Wendy then draws me out of my thoughts as she calls my name. I quickly understand as I then jump out of the way. I was going to try to catch up on if we had a plan, but Natsu and Lucy were just staring at Wendy and I.

"What just happened?" Natsu blinked blankly at us, as he spoke. Lucy furrowed her eyebrows as she decided on a response.

"It seems Elle and Wendy just worked flawlessly together, by Wendy sensing the creature and warning Elle." Wendy's eyes widened at her words, and started fidgeting her fingers once again. I smiled at Lucy and Wendy. Happy because of the compliment we just earned.

"So… What's the plan?" I questioned Lucy realizing all we have so far is 2 seconds before attacks and an arguing Natsu. Lucy facepalmed realizing the same thing. She then furrowed her eyebrows thinking of what to do.

"Um… It's stalking us." Wendy's um and next statement got everyone's attention. As we all stared at her in shock.

"What do you mean Wendy?" Lucy took the lead in questioning the young girl.

"I sense its movements through the wind. It's slowly stalking us, in circles, surrounding us. We can't leave." Wendy seemed to have more confidence than usual. It surprised me, but I was more surprised by her words. Only one word came to mind… Shit.

Lucy and Natsu began trying to plan, but only arguing. Wendy seemed to be trying to either track the creature, make a plan, or listening to the supposed planning. I had no idea what to do, so I looked around taking in all of the details of our surroundings. Then I noticed it.

I sensed the creature coming towards me. Wendy must not have been tracking the creature, and was too distracted to notice. Without Wendy's warning this was going to be a close call. I had to think quickly. For some reason I didn't think of just moving to the right or left. I had a feeling that wasn't going to end well. I ended jumping up into the air, but my legs were still in reach so I did a backflip. I landed on my feet with my knees bent, but it caught the back of my right calf. I fell on my left knee, and gritted my teeth. I was pissed.

Everyone stared at me with wide eyes. Natsu stood there thoroughly confused, while Lucy had a mostly a unreadable expression that held some fear and shock. Wendy's eyes were wide as well, but they were staring at the bright blood red scratch on the back of my right calf. Her breathing was heavy as she realized she hadn't noticed the creature.

"I'm fine! Don't worry you guys! It's just a scratch!" I frantically tried to calm them down. I have been hurt a lot worse this was nothing.

"I'm so sorry! I should have been paying attention! Please let me heal you!" Wendy frantically stepped forward. She apologized profusely as she knelt next to me. She was offering to heal me! She's a dragon slayer who knows healing magic! It hit me she's a sky dragon slayer, but I didn't have time to focus on that.

"Wendy! Wendy… It's okay. Don't worry I'm fine." I spoke loudly to get her attention. I put my hands on her shoulders and looked straight into her worried brown eyes as I spoke. I then took exaggerated deep breaths to get her to do the same. She followed my lead, and after a moment was calm. We stood up, and smiled. She took a step back.

"Ughh… This thing is pissing me off." I brushed off my skirt, and accidently let out a growl. I tried ignoring it, and gladly no one noticed.

"Yeah! Me too!" Natsu cheered in agreement. Lucy sent a glare towards him. Her glare clearly said you are not burning this place down.

Before more could happened Wendy called out a warning to me. Instead of getting out of the way I positioned myself. I dug my feet into the ground, and prepared. Then I realized this thing has claws, and from what I've noticed it attacks claws first. I quickly made it so I would stay standing when I kicked.

I took a breath, and when it was right in front of me I kicked. It was sent upwards, but it wasn't dead or knocked out. I knew if that thing landed moving I was going to be in trouble, so I jumped up and punched that thing down to the ground. I took a breath and smiled while everyone stared.

"What in the world! No fair! I wanted to take it down!" After a moment Natsu realized what happened. He was not that happy, but Lucy sent him a glare and he slightly settled down again.

"So… What did just happen?" Lucy questioned me with a raised eyebrow, and a glint of curiosity in her eyes. Wendy still had her mouth and eyes wide open in disbelief.

"The thing was pissing me off so I knocked it out." I shrugged off my words, and picked up the four legged creature. It was red-brown, and it had three toes on each foot with claws. I started heading back with them.

"So… what are we going to do with it?" Wendy finally spoke up after walking in silence for a bit.

"We'll give it to them. It's their creature. They can do what they want with it as long as they treat it fairly." Lucy and Wendy seemed a bit surprised by my words, but shrugged it off. We gave them their creature, and they gave us our reward. Then we headed back home.

 **So sorry it's late. Finals Week has got me busy.**

 **Thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Yurasen, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **Thanks to Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following.**

 **I hope all of you enjoy. I'll post next sunday night.**


	9. Training Time!

It had been two days since Lucy, Natsu, Wendy, and I went on that job. I learned a lot. I learned about guilds, jobs, rent, and so much more. Lucy made Natsu and I a delicious breakfast this morning before we headed to the guild. Now I was vaguely listening in on Lucy and Levy's conversation at the bar. Usually I had no clue what they were talking about, but every once in a while I learned something new. I felt someone tap on my shoulder, and so I gladly spun around on the spinny barstools (which are the greatest invention ever). Before me stands the one and only Romeo.

"Sup Romeo?" I greeted him with a giant smile. I've had a few conversations with Wendy and Romeo. My relationship with Charle was still strained to say the least.

"So, I was wondering if you wanted to train with me today?" He gave me one of his classic smiles, but I furrowed my brow in confusion. I had heard of trains before. In fact I'm pretty sure I've been on one at least once, but I didn't understand why he was using the word as a verb. After a moment I looked back up at him my face still strewn with confusion.

"I thought a train was a type of vehicle?" He let a slight chuckle escape his lips before he responded. His smile never left as he explained.

"Yes, but I'm referring to training. Training refers to practicing for something physical. I'm going to practice magic and combat training." His face gleamed with a big smile as he finished. I took in everything he said. I want to go, but it could be to dangerous. Even if I didn't use magic my strength could be dangerous towards him. I took in his smile once again. That was when I noticed his feet tapping in excited anticipation. I couldn't say no after that.

"Sure! Sounds like fun let me tell Lucy." I sent a radiating smile back towards him as I spoke. His quick nod made me laugh. I happily spun around on the spinny stool, overshooting a bit and having to grab onto the counter as I face Lucy. Tapping her shoulder she jumps slightly and giggles as she turns towards me.

"Oh hey Elle! What's up?"

"Romeo and I are gonna go train." Lucy gives a slight smile before she answered.

"Alright, just be back by lunchtime I'm buying!" A smile radiated across my face as I thanked her. Lucy waved goodbye as I followed Romeo towards the guild hall doors.

I followed Romeo around the building. I took in the lush green grass, and beautiful slight forest. I noticed a lake in the opposite direction, and noted to visit another day. Soon I see an area where the grass dissipates into hard dry ground. The trees seemed to only reach the horizon. We stopped in front of this empty area. I looked around to see torches standing tall all around the edges of the dirt. A small moat river thing flowed near the torches going underground at the entrance. Seeds also scattered the ground as I stared in awe Romeo fought giggling at me.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail's training area!" He dramatically outstretched his arms as he turned towards me while stepping in front of me. I keep myself from keeling over in laughter and let myself giggle slightly. He continued to smile brightly at me though.

"Oh Watch this! ROMEO CONBOLT OF FAIRY TAIL!" He turned towards the so-called training area, and a magic translucent wall appeared reaching high to the sky. My eyes widened as he stepped onto the dirt ground through the wall. I stood there refusing to move as he turned towards me with a goofy smile.

"You don't need to do that. I just find it fun, it makes me feel like a superhero. Anyways this wall is just some runes that Levy and Freed worked on for months. It's here to keep people outside safe, and make sure magic doesn't go aray." His explanation dawned on me and I let a small smile cross my face as I let an exasperated laugh sigh thing leave my lips. After a moment he grabs my hand and leads me through the wall. That same soft, comforting feeling that I felt when getting my guild emblem flowed through me, but this time it had a strength a feeling of safety to it.

"This is amazing… What in the world is up with everything in this place?" I look around in awe practically spinning. He laughs at my actions while taking in my words. It took him a moment to understand what I meant, but quickly figured it out.

"You see Fairy Tail mages specialize in many different types of magic, so our training area reflects that, giving everyone the things they need to properly train." I turn back towards him as he explains. Nodding in understanding I smile at him and tell him to lead the way.

He leads me to some wooden straw things. Supposedly they're dummies used to practice combat attack moves. Since I have clearly said that I will not use my magic do to its destructive abilities Romeo has decided to show me basic combat moves. He starts off by punching the chest area of one of the dummies with his left fist and then punches the same area again but with his right fist. Then instead of punching again he quickly kicks the side of the dummy with his right leg. I take in this move and how it works.

"So this move is very interesting. You punch them twice making them prepare for a third punch, but instead you kick their side." He smiles at me and says I got it right. Then he says my turn. That's when it dawned on me I wouldn't just watching. I take a breath. Based on how the dummy reacted to Romeo hitting it I definitely couldn't go full force on it, but maybe I wouldn't have to hold back. Just hit, don't put anything into it.

Romeo steps back and motions me towards the dummy. I take one more deep breath, and make sure I don't put anything into it. I go quick so I don't notice what happens to the dummy. After two punches to its chest area and a kick at its side I take a step back. Shit!

"What the hell!?" Romeo mutters this as I stare at the two indentations of where my fists were, along with the dent from my kick that goes a third of the way through the dummy.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! I thought it was stronger than that!" I frantically apologize, which is way out of character for me. After a moment he just laughs at me. My face contorts into confusion, and a little bit of annoyance as he continues to laugh.

"Damn you're strong! I wonder how you would go against Natsu!" My annoyance dissipates as I rub my head because of his antics. I slightly laugh with him. Then we continue training, but I hold back this time as he teaches me combat moves and how to block them.

Lunch time came around and we headed back to the guild hall. After that I was definitely hungry, and Lucy was paying. Also this training thing gave me an idea. In the last two days Lucy showed off some of her spirits so I could meet them, and the way magic flowed through her was incredible. Magic flowed through her effortlessly, but no one including Lucy ever noticed the excess magic that followed her around. Honestly if she wasn't in a guild with powerful mages then the amount of excess magic that surrounded her would make it so she could be tracked for miles. So on that note I think I have a way to help Lucy realize her power, but I'll need the drunk.

 **I'm soooo sorry! I'm not the best at posting on time, and Holidays got in the way. Instead of giving you guys a rushed chapter I'm posting another chapter on wednesday.**

 **Thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Yurasen, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **Thanks to Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following.**

 **Enjoy!**


	10. Training with Lucy

"Hello Cana!" I give a sarcastic smile to the drunk brunette. Romeo and I just finished a training session, and now I need Cana's help with "training" Lucy. She glares at me as she finishes her mug.

"What do you want?" Cana was clearly less than pleased to see me. She continued to glare at me most likely wondering what I was up to.

"Well, well… Is someone mad that she has to actually care for herself now?" I mockingly pout at her as I've noticed that since I forced her to eat and drink something other than alcohol Mirajane has been holding her to that standard. Her glare only strengthens as I step closer to her.

"I say it again what do you want?" She basically growls at me. It was clear she was struggling with her new regime. Hopefully she likes me enough to help out.

"I need your help. You see… I'm going to show Lucy how strong she is." I smile happily at the drunk as confusion falls on her face. It didn't take long for her to question me. It was clear she has no idea what I meant.

"What do you mean? How are you gonna do that?" Her glare had completely disappeared. Her face was full of confusion, but it was clear she was trying to hide her intrigue. I had her right where I wanted her.

"Well Lucy is incredibly strong as she has to be if she's to hold open gates between realms with magic, but Lucy is also very special. You see excess magic just follows her around, and the way magic in general flows through her is breathtaking." I smile as I remembered her showing off Plue and Lyra. Quickly I came back to reality as after a moment Cana realized what I was talking about, and her look of astonishment confused me.

"You can sense how magic flows through somebody!?" She hadn't quite understood what I was talking about, but I was more surprised that she couldn't sense magic like that. After a moment I realized this was just another thing that made me different from everyone. Now I'm going to have to give a lecture on how magic works.

"Yeah I can sense all magic. Magic is in every living thing, but sometimes there is extra magic that isn't needed to keep something alive. That's excess magic, and it surrounds Lucy. I want to help her access it. So I'm going to bring Lucy to the training area, and I need you to make sure we stay safe. Oh and so you can hold onto her keys after I take them from her." I smile at her as her mouth opens and she stares wide eyed at what I just said. Then she finally processes it all.

"No… You can't take her keys are you insane! Lucy will die before she lets her keys get taken if she's not in battle! Even then she'll do everything she can to keep that from happening!" I blink for a moment taking in what she says. Cana will be perfect to help me out.

"Well then… You better be there to keep us from killing each other! I'm bringing Lucy to the training area now!" I give her a sweet smile as I turn around and head towards Lucy. Cana stares awestruck at me then quickly but quietly follows me.

I told Lucy that I wanted to show her something Romeo taught me. I watched Cana follow us as she cursed under her breath at how insane I was. Cana sat on a bench just out of the way of the training area glaring at me.

I felt that strong, protective, calming sensation as Lucy and I passed through the training barrier. I lead her to one corner of the area saying she could see best from this angle. She smiled at me excitedly, and I spun around her showing off my outfit so she wouldn't pay attention to my hands. My two elastic bracelets covered my wrists as I had on a white and red tie dyed tank top with dark blue denim shorts that were mid-thigh, and of course my classic brown-black boots. Though it was that my hair was pulled up into a tight high ponytail made it so she wasn't focused on my hands because it was rare to see my hair pulled back, let alone in a tight high ponytail that kept all little pieces of hair out of my face. The bottom half of the ponytail was bright red and flowed as I spun behind Lucy letting my hands swiftly grab her pouch of keys. Then I swiftly moved to the other side of the training area.

"I'm sorry but I forgot my water bottle! I'll be right back!" I yelled towards Lucy and let slight irritation flow threw my voice so she thought I actually forgot my water bottle. Once she nodded in understanding I sprinted off towards Cana. I had left my water bottle on a picnic table just past Cana so I could hand her the keys while grabbing it. As I sprinted by I gently tossed the pouch of keys on to Cana's lap.

"Holy Shit!" Cana quietly exclaims as the pouch lands on her lap. I fight a giggle as I grab my water bottle and race back to the training area.

Lucy watches me once again after staring off into the distance. I slow down and take a breath, and happily gulp down some of my water. Then I put my water bottle off to the side, and show off a few moves. I had to keep reminding myself to hold back though. After that I took a deep breath and backed up with a giant smile, that was trying to turn into a smirk.

"Wow Arrona That was amazing!" She ran over to me with a smile and wide arms. I think that was the first time I was surprised by Lucy's actions. She engulfs me in a hug. No one has ever hugged me back before. I stood there shocked for a moment, and then shook it off.

"Thanks! Now it's time for the real reason I brought you out here!" My cheery smile paired with deavious eyes lead Lucy to take a step back and gulp.

"What are you talking about?" Lucy's voice was riddled with worry. I simply fought giggling at this.

"I brought you at here so we could train! I didn't say this because then you would have kept a close eyes on your keys, which Cana is holding for me." A smirk smile thing fell upon my lips as I pointed my thumb towards Cana sitting on the bench. Lucy eyes widened in horror and shock as she realizes her pouch of keys is on Cana's lap.

"Don't worry she'll keep them safe. Right now I'm going to train your magical abilities." A smirk falls upon my face. I'm not like anyone in Fairy Tail whether they believe it or not. I'm quite good at controlling my emotions and actions, but at times I can be… a mischievous bitch.

"What has gotten into you Arrona!? I need my keys to do that!" Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at my current behavior. My demeanor had completely changed. I laughed at her.

"Well I guess I have to give another crash course on how magic works." I let mock disappointment into my voice. I also sighed as I vaguely looked toward the ground upsettingly. Lucy's look of horror/shock and confusion never left her face.

"You see Lucy… Magic is in every living thing, but there is also excess magic that living things don't need to survive. You are unlike anything I've ever seen before. Excess magic surrounds you. Not only do you not use it you don't even realize it's there. Some of the magic around you gets used up because you always stay by such powerful mages. If you weren't in Fairy Tail you would gather so much excess magic that you could be tracked two towns over." I let a slight chuckle leave my lips at my last sentence. My voice was filled with mischievous confidence. I simply flashed my eyes at her as she took in my words. It took her what felt like forever to get a grip.

"Okay so… How am I going to access it?" I sensed her deep steady breaths as she contemplated what I was possibly going to do. Her eyebrows were still furrowed with confusion, but the horror had gone away. I smirked at her and put my hands on my hips.

"You are going to let magic flow through you just like you do with your keys, and we are going to spar." Lucy's eyes widened in shock at my words. The instant it took for her stutter out a response felt like an eternity.

"What! But you don't use your magic! You're much stronger than me! This can't go well!" I closed my eyes and nodded disapprovingly towards her or the ground. I didn't realize until now how little she believed in herself.

"Yes I am stronger, but I'm not going to use my magic. I don't need it to spar with you. When it comes to protecting others you never hesitate, but the moment you have to care or protect yourself you lose all faith in your abilities." My demeanor changed back to that caring confident 13 year-old, but it didn't last long. She took in my words and contorted her face to show how she was ashamed that that was the truth. The look of a smirk and a face of understanding is what I showed as my demeanor twisted back into one of mischief.

 **Hello I hope you enjoyed this early chapter.**

 **Special thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, SyrenKane, Yurasen, mercawesomeness, shadowdemon 1234, and sugerplumz for favoriting my story.**

 **Of course I can't forget to give a special thanks to Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, mercawesomeness, shadowdemon 1234, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following as well.**

 **See Ya Sunday!**


	11. training aftermath

"Now I wish I could keep encouraging you, but it's time to spar." A mischievous smirk flooded face as Lucy's eyes widened in horror. I gave Lucy a moment to collect herself before starting. I held back my strength as I tried punching her face. Lucy squealed and leaned back dodging my punch. She took a step back and steadied herself. Lucy's Face was still filled with worry and fear as she watched me. I aimed my next hit for her stomach and she jumped to the side. I fake pouted for a moment.

"Now now you don't have to stay on the defensive. It's boring when it's one-sided." The moment I finished my words my fake pout dissipated as I swung another hit towards Lucy. She jumped back.

After a bit of me punching and Lucy dodging I decided this was going nowhere. Magic was continuing to gather around Lucy. All I have to do is force her to hit me. I approached her and went to punch her in the face again just like at the beginning, but this time when she leaned back I knocked her legs out from under her. I heard Cana screaming to be careful at me, but I wasn't worried.

I stood over the blonde who was breathing heavily. She still had worry and fear just like the beginning of the match, but that had mostly been drowned out by anger and annoyance. I smirked at Lucy and let out a soft chuckle as I punched her face, but her right hand came up and caught my punch. Just like that it all clicked, if only for a moment.

Lucy's left hand glowed golden as excess magic flowed through her. It transformed into a special magic that no one had seen in centuries. She aimed her left hand at me and the golden magic went towards my head. I leaned back and dodged. Lucy rolled to her right knocking me off balance. We both took a moment to get up. I immediately went for a hit, but she beat me to it as golden magic from her right hand was aimed straight at me. I instinctively screwed up. Crystals uprooted from the ground surrounding me, shielding me.

I felt the golden magic hit the crystals. The moment that magic dissipated I forced the crystals down to mold back into the earth. That's when I saw it. Lucy and Cana were both frozen with wide eyes. While Makarov and the strongest mages were outside staring into the training area. Shit! I'm screwed now!

"Cana, Lucy, Elle, What is going on? I sensed two unfamiliar large spikes of magic." Makarov got straight to the point. I just stared at the scene before me. Before anything more happens Lucy shakes out of her trance, and before she tries figuring out what just happened she turns towards Cana.

"Alright! I did the stupid thing! Cana give the keys back! Now!" She stalks towards Cana glaring at her. Everyone stares at this in confusion and shock as to why in the world Cana has Lucy's keys. Cana stands there terrified by the look Lucy is giving her. Once Lucy's close enough Cana gets enough courage to hand the pouch of keys to Lucy.

"Thank you. Now that that's dealt with… Elle, what the hell just happened?" Lucy turned on her heal, and now everyone was staring at me. I was taking deep breaths thinking of what to do.

"Um… I was sparing with you Lucy, Of course." I smiled innocently at her with big eyes. Lucy's glare never changed, and everyone continued to stare at us in shock.

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain, you taking my keys, the golden magic that shot out of my hands, or the crystals that shielded you and then disappeared!" she stared me down as her voice slowly rose. Soon the blonde was yelling at me, and now the strongest mages of Fairy Tail knew what just happened. I took a breath. I have to think quick.

"Well… I wanted to help you connect with the magic that follows you." My tone was quiet and even though it still had its confidence it was slightly sheepish. I looked at the ground and fiddled with my fingers. I felt like Wendy; damn it must suck feeling like this so much.

"What do you mean by that?" Erza's stern tone, that was laced with interest or confusion, was brought to everyone's attention. She stepped forward from the small crowd. I sighed, third lesson's the charm.

"Well I can sense all magic. Yes I really can. Anyways… excess magic is the magic that mages use as it is extra magic that living things don't need to survive. Lucy has excess magic that surrounds her. Wherever she goes she gathers it, and because of Fairy Tail mages using up some of that magic that she can't be tracked two towns over." Everyone takes in my words with gasps and/or looks of contemplation. While Lucy just looks amazed by this, completely awestruck. After a moment Makarov stepped forward once again.

"It is intriguing that you know this, but that still doesn't explain what just happened." Makarov looked at me sternly with a quizzical look in his eyes. Crap, well it's time to go with the flow.

"I took Lucy's keys so she couldn't use them while we were sparring. My goal was for her to be able to use the excess magic that surrounds her, and I succeeded. That golden light along with the spike of unfamiliar magic was what the excess magic turned into once Lucy let it flow through her. From the little I know about the history of magic this type of magic hasn't been scene in centuries. It's Celestial magic." I took a breath, and admitted my plan. At the end a few gasped at my words while others were overtaken by confusion. Erza looked around and noticed Makarov's response.

"Master, why do you seem surprised? From what I gather Elle is incorrect as we already know Lucy uses Celestial magic along with Loke." I raised my eyebrows at them. One could they possibly be this stupid, Lucy uses Celestial Gate Keys, and two who is Loke. My thoughts are cut off by Makarov's response.

"No, Loke uses Regulus a celestial spirit magic. As well for Lucy she uses Celestial Gate Key magic, something that allows her to move magic between The Celestial Realm and ours. Celestial magic is like excess magic in the fact that it flows through the celestial spirit realm how excess magic flows through this world. Yet other than this very little is known about it, but one of the things that is known about it is that it's very rare and very hard to use. That is what surprised me." He looks down at the ground furrowing his brow for an unknown reason. Lucy stares blankly at him slack-jawed. Erza's eyebrows were still furrowed, but surprise and shock was written in her eyes. I wanted to look at the others reactions to hopefully find a way out, but then Natsu speaks up and I didn't pay much attention because I realized of course Natsu would slightly recognize my magic.

"That's cool and all, but what type of magic was the crystals?" He jumps up excited to get an answer, and just like that the attention's back on me. Excitement is written all over his face, but I clearly see the curiosity in his eyes. Without thinking this time I respond.

"Why do you care? All you like is destroying stuff!" This new ability to mouth off without fear of actually getting hurt is not good. I really need to think before I speak or else I'm gonna have a lot of problems. He blinks for literally two seconds then he looks taken back. I didn't mean to. Suddenly I remember Wendy when I first met Cana. She's right I find pressure points, and this time it seems I hit Natsu where it counts. My face immediately softens.

"That's not true I don't always destroy stuff! I just want to know what's so familiar about that crystal magic!" Sure he was being loud, but he wasn't angry he was upset. My magic and my words had pushed him. Ever since I met Natsu he never acted like this. Everybody was surprised by this outburst that proved I got to him. They all stared wide-eyed at him.

"I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking Natsu. I didn't mean that." I look him straight the eyes trying to get him to understand. For a moment it felt like me and Natsu were the only ones out there.

"I don't care! What was that magic?" He was being loud just because now. He wasn't trying to seem angry any more. He just wanted answers. This sucks! I can't say crap, not here because there are other people here. This isn't fair! I never wanted to hurt anybody. I just wanted people who weren't trying to hurt me. Now that I've found that I'm hurting them without meaning to.

"I'm sorry… I can't… I swear I don't want to hurt anyone, in any way. That… My magic… I can't tell you what it is. I'm sorry that I can't give you the answers that you want or need." Everybody continues to stare. After a moment I simply walked away. I went deep into the forest, and sat beneath a tree. Someone will come for me soon enough.

 **Special Thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, SyrenKane, Yurasen, mercawesmeness, shadowdemon 1234, and sugerplumz to favoriting my story.**

 **Special Thanks to Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, shadowdemon, and xMiyazono for following my story.**

 **Also a very special to shadowdemon 1234 for reviewing my story. I wanted to say that I really liked your review and that it would be nice to talk to you.**

 **Also I'm sorry for the random updates. They should be back to normal in a week or two. Enjoy everyone!**


	12. Changes in trust

I sat nestled in the large roots of one of the trees in the forest behind the Fairy Tail guild hall. It'd been quite a bit since Lucy and I's "training" session. Probably 20 minutes since I walked into the trees. Someone was bound to come for me. Unfortunately I had no idea who would be coming my way.

Yet I was not expecting Erza to end up in front of me as I twiddled with the dirt below me. Then again since I had no idea who would be coming I assume anyone would have surprised me for one reason or another. She looked down at me with a concerned look. After a moment she spoke up with undisputed worry.

"Are you okay, Elle?" It was such a simple question, but it held such concern and power. I breathed deeply as I thought about my next words. I had to hold back the wanting to let everything spill. Everything that I have to keep bottled up, what I am, what I've been through, how much I've been emotionally/mentally damaged, it all begged to escape me. It didn't though. I didn't let it. I couldn't.

"I don't know…" Even though I was able to hold it all back I couldn't lie. So instead my words came out in a heavy, wavering sigh. She continued to look down at me with furrowed eyebrows. I didn't look up at her, and couldn't even when she kneeled down in front of me to be at my eye level. Erza continued to try to and look me straight in the eye by twisting her head. Then she sighed a heavy breath out, and straightened up to be eye level with my hair as I stared at the ground.

"I know… It's hard adjusting to life not under someone's control." Her voice softened as well as her eyes. I couldn't help but look into her eyes. How could she know? I gulped as I struggled to find words. Gladly before I spoke up Erza did.

"When I was young I was a slave. It was hard once I left, but then I found Fairy Tail. I didn't need to tell them my story. They just accepted me, and gave me a shoulder to cry on when I couldn't handle it." A faint smile crossed her face as she finished. I smiled back. They really cared. I just fell onto her shoulder. She requiped out of her armor, so I landed on her strong shoulder.

We sat there hugging each other. Soon we had to get up. We had some food and hung out until I had to go home.

* * *

After yesterday I was kind of excited to get to the guild hall, but at the same time I wasn't sure how they would respond. Then Lucy made sure to calm my nerves by letting us stop at a cafe on our way to the guild hall.

It was small, very few people were in it, but their muffins looked and smelled delicious. Lucy lead me to the counter so we could order. I smiled a long with Lucy do to the excitement of getting some food. Once we were there a young waitress smiled and greeted us.

"I'll have a bagel and some yogurt. What about you?" Lucy turned towards me slightly tilting her head signaling for me to order. A giant smile broke out on my face as I spoke up.

"Two muffins please!" I spoke up quickly. The waitress hid her giggle behind her hand as she nodded yes of course towards me.

"Well it seems you have the appetite of a dragon-slayer, might you be one?" My smile dissipated. I stared at her trying to figure out why she would ask me that. Is this really how people work around here? Your magic known to everyone without a second thought? Lucy quickly noticed this as I felt her hand land on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry, but Elle here is a new member of Fairy Tail. She has been through a lot, and even though I know she's not a dragon-slayer she doesn't openly discuss things such as her magic. I understand you didn't know." Lucy smiled at the girl as she spoke. The waitress blinked for a moment and then realized her mistake. She turned to me as she spoke back up.

"Oh I'm sorry as well. I was curious because we have a special deal for dragon-slayers of buy one get one half off." She smiled at me getting my understanding. I took deep breaths. I understood a little bit but not completely.

"Why do you have that deal?" It was a simple question, and she nodded as if accepting it as a reasonable question.

"Well dragon-slayers are known to have a big appetite, and even though they are strong enough to get the money they need there are the young ones such as Wendy from your guild that might not be able to keep up. So we decided to help them out." She continued to smile as I nodded in understanding. My smile came back full force. This was Magnolia, not just did Fairy Tail care but so did everyone else here. I nodded in understanding, and Lucy and I headed to the guild hall.

Once we entered the guild hall it seemed as if the crystal conundrum never happened. Which was quite surprising. I headed to a table, and called Mira over so I could order some more food. I talked with her explaining this morning with a smile. Lucy had taken Levy to the library to find out more about celestial magic. I hung around, and learned more about the members.

I've always had this knot, this pit, this… nagging at my stomach. I quickly learned it was my instincts. Ever since I joined Fairy Tail this feeling had been dissapaiting, but today it grew a tad stronger. I had finished my food when I accidentally overheard Makarov talking. My instincts begged me to listen, so I did.

"Thank you for coming. I have an _assignment_ for you two." Makarov's voice was stern, but calm and sensitive unlike Erza's. He had said assignment with a bite I couldn't figure out. I listened trying to find out who he was talking to, but their answer must not have been verbal because after a moment he continued on.

"Gildarts I'm not sure if you've heard, but we have a new guild member." I gulped. Gildarts was clearly another member of the guild, but I hadn't met him. This meant he has been gone for at least the past week. My worry was cut off by what I assume to be Gildarts.

"No I haven't. What about em?" His tone was sturdy but casual. It blurred the line of serious and laid back. It was kind of irritating, but a young female voice caught me off guard.

"Fairy Tail's newest member goes by Elle. She is 13, and was saved by Natsu and Lucy on a job a few days ago. She's now Lucy's roommate. She refuses to use her magic or say what it is. Also Elle is not her real name. She is incredibly strong though, and gets along well with the members her age. Also she is known for having quite a bit of sass yet she never gets into physical fights. Along with that she at least has some knowledge on ancient magic." This voice almost monotone, but not quite. I found myself in the hallway a few steps away from master Makarov's office. I blinked realizing where I was. After a moment though Makarov spoke up, I simply froze there as I listened.

"Thank you Laki. It seems that she has been through a lot. I'm afraid she is hiding something. I fear for her and the others of this guild's safety. I need you two to find out as much as you can about… Arrona." I was shocked. I didn't care the reason he shared my name or that he was hesitant. He was being beyond stupid, and I can't let my name escape. Within a second I found myself in front of Makarov. He blinked and then his eyes went wide. I was glaring at him. I heard the two people behind me gulp. I took in a deep breath before I spoke.

"Just because you're in charge doesn't mean you know what's best! Your overprotective worriedness is going to endanger everyone in this building! I don't care how old you are or what you've been through even though I'm only 13 I promise I've been through more! I've been through hell! So you are going to shut up before you get everyone in here killed or worse, and yes there are things worse than death and they know what they are…" I took a deep breath trying to calm myself. I couldn't look him in the eye so I stepped back and looked down. My dark brown bangs flowed over my purple eyes. I looked sinister and I was pissed. As I took deep breaths I turned around and began to leave. Yet after two steps I remembered one last thing I needed to do. With my bangs still slightly covering my eyes I looked over my shoulder and straight into Makarov's eyes.

"Oh and as far as you and anyone in this room is concerned this never happened and you can call me Elle… Master!" I bit out master with disgust and I felt his reaction of fear and sadness pour out of him for a second. With that I turned back towards the door and left. I left them shocked, confused, and disoriented as I slammed the door behind me.

I was pissed, and it was taking every part of me not to let my hair change. I had to get out of this guild hall now because let's just say if I was in my other form right now my hair would be on fire. This day was not going as planned, and apparently it's bound to only get worse. I looked up to walk out of the guild hall only to see… Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy before me. It was clear they heard some of that, how much I'm not sure, but for now I'm screwed.

 **Thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting this story.**

 **Of course I gotta thank Alkus, JcL107, avaiaal, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following.**

 **I hope everyone enjoys!**


	13. feelings

"What was that?!" Of course Natsu was the first of the three dragon-slayers before me to speak up. It was clear how confused and worried he was. Gajeel raised an eyebrow at me when I winced at the question. I sheepishly smiled at them as I thought up an answer.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about?" For some reason I couldn't get myself to look at Wendy. Gajeel tched at me while rolling his eyes. Natsu's eyes narrowed at me clearly seeing right through my bad attempt at an innocent look.

"Come on! All the crazy talk you just said to Gramps!" I'm not sure how much they heard, so in other words I have no idea what to say. My mind begins racing trying to find the right words. I winced again with my lips twisting unexplainably. Then out of everything that could happen the girl that I couldn't bring myself to look at for no particular reason moved. She gently tugged Natsu's sleeve slightly gaining his attention.

"Natsu…" Her voice was quiet, and she was clearly nervous as always. Her head was faced towards the ground, but her eyes were raised to just barely see Natsu. He turned his head towards her raising his eyebrows in confusion. Her heartbeat was slightly faster than normal, and she had to physically keep her breath steady. "It's probably hard for her to talk about. Lets just make sure she's okay because she seems frustrated. We need to stay calm." She slowly rose her head. He took this in for a moment and then looked surprised.

Honestly I was just as surprised. She wanted to make sure I was okay? Why was this surprising? We'd clearly become good friends. My mind was racing trying to figure out anything. Why did this make me feel so weird? I can't tell if this feeling is good or bad. It made me freeze, but also want to fidget under anyone's gaze. Everything was jumbling together… emotions, thoughts, it all became one big mess of weirdness inside me. Yet I was still perfectly calm on the outside. Then I snapped myself out of it, realizing it was my turn to speak up.

"Yeah… I'm fine, but I need a bit. I'm going home." At first my voice betrayed me shaking slightly. Then in an instant it returned with its normal confidence. With that Wendy had looked up at me along with the other dragon-slayers before me. After an instant in which Wendy and I's eyes met she look down again slightly. I must have been really out of it because I swear there was a slight blush on her cheeks. Either way she then took a step back, away from Natsu, letting me through to go home.

I didn't know what else to do other than walk through the path Wendy made for me. Surprisingly not many were focusing on this interaction. So within a moment I escaped that situation. I headed straight home. Lucy wasn't there so I got the apartment to myself.

I did whatever I wanted. For the first time ever that I can remember I truly relaxed. I never realized how wonderful it was to relax. I cooked the one thing I'd been taught so far for dinner. I made enough for Lucy, and took a bath.

This was bliss. I didn't have to worry about anything. I relaxed. Then I put on pajamas, and carved some things. It had been so long since I got to carve. After everything I thought better than to carve with my retractable claws like I normally did. So I decided to practice using a knife to carve. It was harder than I thought it would be, but I got used to it. In the end I carved Elle and the image of a dragon into a plank of would and put it up on my door. I fell asleep before Lucy got home and enjoyed myself.

 **Don't worry guys I haven't forgotten. There is plenty more. Sorry for making you guys wait, but I should be back on track.**

 **Anyways thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, MaxSiker, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **Of course thanks to Alkus, JcL107, MaxSiker, avaiaal, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, and xMiyano for following.**


	14. More guildmates!

I woke up to the sweet scent of tea that Lucy made. I got up happily, and found Lucy in pajamas making some oatmeal with tea sitting on the table for us. I smile excitedly at her, and sat down to drink some tea.

"So… It seems you went shopping. Did you have fun?" Lucy was her normal cheery self. She continued to stir the oatmeal with a smile. While I on the other hand was completely taken off guard by her words. It made absolutely no sense why she would think I went shopping. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but I quickly spoke up to end the confusion.

"Why would you think I went shopping? I went straight home once I left the guildhall." Confusion flowed through my voice. I noticed Lucy turn her head slightly, and raise one eyebrow. It was as if she thought she was missing something, and was trying to figure it out. I sat there with my tea in my hands, and a confused expression clear on my face by my raised eyebrows. After a moment she decided that staring at me wasn't going to get her answers. She sighed, and turned back towards the food before speaking up.

"You have that new beautiful sign on your door." Her tone was exasperated. She seemed very confused. That was when I realized what she was talking about. Levy showed me how to spell Elle, but other than that I've shown no interest in writing or any such things. I also realized that even though I fit in with Fairy Tail so naturally I only just arrived, and little was known about me. My confusion drifted away as I smiled. I fought back I quiet giggle. That got Lucy to turn towards me with a raised eyebrow yet again. I took a breath, and decided to end her confusion.

"I carved that! While I was walking home I found a plank of wood, and decided to carve something into it." Lucy's eyes went wide with realization, and quickly a smile grew on her face. She took the oatmeal off the stove. She was beyond excited as she served it. With that we ate up, and got ready for the day.

Once at the guildhall I said good morning to Natsu. We talked for a bit, but quickly he got in a fight with Gray. I sighed and went to talk with Romeo instead. Gladly we talked for a bit, but that was interrupted when the guild doors opened rather loudly.

Not many were fazed by this. While I on the other hand was puzzled as I watched four people enter. In the front of this group was a big man a little larger than Gajeel. He had spiky blonde hair with piercing grey-green eyes that were topped off with a lightning bolt scar going through his eyebrow all the way down to his cheek over his right eye. He had a deep purple coat covering him, and for some awful reason he put me on edge. Right by his side stood a thin man with long green hair that covered his right eye. A dark red coat buttoned up with his stern face made him seem almost sophisticated, a rare sight in Fairy Tail. Behind him was a young woman wearing a sleeveless green dress paired with fishnet tights. Her glasses covered her eyes just barely. Her long wavy light brown hair framed her face wonderfully, but it was off-put by that scowl that screamed stuck-up. Finally the perplexing one of the group was the tall lanky man with a metal mask over his eyes. Along with the purple tuft on top of his helmet he wore a long medium blue skirt thing with a dark blue long sleeve top. Yet it was the floating wooden… totems that followed him that drew the most attention.

With that they headed to the bar. I also noticed the guild emblem on the woman's chest. Since it seemed they were members of Fairy Tail I watched them for a bit. The blonde who seemed to be the leader gave Mirajane their report. It didn't take me long to decide to go introduce myself. Completely forgetting about Romeo… whoopsie.

"Helloooo! I'm the newest member of Fairy Tail! Thought I'd come over to meet all of ya!" I ran over easily dodging everything. With a giant smile I skidded to a stop right next to the group. I bounced on my heels as all but the leader turned towards me. To my surprise that included the entire guild, awestruck by how straight forward I was. The leader simply grunted and took a gulp of the drink Mira gave him.

"Well hello there. My name is Freed. It is a pleasure to meet you." The green haired man spoke up the moment he had a good look at me. His manor of speaking had an almost disobedient tone of prestige that brought a smile to my face for saying he was unlike the other high ranking nobles I've met. His slight bow astonished me. I had a feeling I was going to like him.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well Freed. You may call me Elle as that is what I go by to most." I gave a very slight curtsey with a simple smile, astonishing everyone. To few it may seem I was mocking him, but to many I was greeting him with the same etiquette he greeted me with. All who had met me were slack-jawed at my ability to act like a high class lady. I simply stood up straight, and everybody suddenly noticed how good my posture has been ever since they met me. I raised my hand hiding my slight laugh. The women behind Freed rose and eyebrow at me before stepping forwards. Leaving Freed to politely step back signalling she has the floor.

"Well, well… My name is Evergreen. It seems a pleasure to meet you." A smirk broadened across her face as she looked down at me. Condescendence dripped from her voice. I blinked patiently at her, and after a moment I decided we weren't going to be the best of friends. A slight smirk crossed my face as I glanced down for a moment before lifting my head to face her.

"Yes I'm sure Evergreen. I find it quite pleasant meeting you as well." The confidence so many new to be held in my voice shone in its normal way instead of the politeness it held when greeting Freed. Never breaking my form I watched her falter. Her eye winced at my words fueled with the change of tone. Her smirk dissipated as she stared at me planning her next move. All eyes were on her. It was clear I just accepted the challenge she laid out before me, but she was baffled by how causally I changed my demeanor. Within the few moments I'd interacted with these people I had gone from a cheery, excited little girl to polite high class lady and then a mischievous proper lady ready to play the games laid before her. All in all Evergreen had no idea how I would continue to act.

"I see… Well then you should know that me, Freed, and the masked one, known as Bixlow, are known as The Thunder Legion. We are a team that goes on jobs together, and the big blonde is Laxus, he's our leader of sorts. We don't pick up newbies. All of us are very strong, know how to hold our own, and we always finish our jobs." Her smirk returned this time she was careful not to falter, but in trying to knock me down a peg she gave me just what I needed. My smirk never faltered, but unlike last time I didn't blink at her giving the feign of innocence or confusion. I simply stood my ground.

"That's quite sweet of you to clarify, but I already guessed you were a team and that Laxus lead you guys. Although I'm quite appreciative you shared their names even if I was excited to hear how they introduced themselves. Yet it seems you misunderstood one simple thing. I came over here to say hello, and learn who else was in the guild not join your little group even if you all were very strong. So it's been nice talking to you, but I would like to properly meet the rest of your group." With that I couldn't help but let my smirk grow. Screw watching her falter she straight up fell apart. She leaned back slack-jawed as she blinked at me trying to grasp what just happened. And with that round one of many goes to me. I simply turned towards the most intriguing of The Thunder Legion after that.

"It seems you really are something else. I like you!" The man now known as Bixlow really didn't care for pleasantries unlike the others. His totems to my surprise echoed 'something else' behind him over and over. Yet it was the fact that he punctuated his declaration of sorts by him sticking out his tongue to show the black Fairy Tail emblem on it that threw me off-guard. I completely forgot I was holding first impressions for the other three mages, and my eyes went wide as a large grin fell upon my face.

"That is beyond awesome! I love your emblem!" Confused and surprised looks crossed the guildhall along with laughter. My smile only grew bigger. Yet of course things can only last so long, as Natsu came barrelling towards us.

"HEY! LAXUS LET'S FIGHT!" I managed to pull Bixlow out of Natsu's way just in time. He stops right where Bixlow and I were moments ago. His toothy grin engulfing his face. There was this look almost of determination, but it was clarified as fire when his fist matched his eyes, blazing. Laxus heaved a big breath, and for the first time in when I met him he actually acknowledged someone.

"Shut up pyro." His entire body shifted in the seat to face Natsu. Natsu didn't have his normal fighting buddies today, so I had a feeling releasing Natsu now would get at least a good portion of the guildhall burned down. I curiously watched the pair still on edge. Laxus's stern gaze did nothing to off-put Natsu while for me it made the pit in my stomach deepen.

"Come On! It'll be fun!" Natsu didn't care. He had too much pent up energy. After Gray and Natsu got in a fight Gray left on a job. Leaving a hyper Natsu behind for the rest of us to deal with. Laxus glared at him, and with one gulp he finished off his drink. Standing up Laxus seemed like he was about to say alright, and we were going to have some major damage. Despite the glare Laxus sent Natsu's way, and the intimidating aura he put up he simply turned around and left the guildhall.

Natsu, of course followed excitedly. As noticing the impending event was bound to be very interesting many followed the two outside. After Natsu blocked Laxus's path a sort of circle of people surrounded the two. I leaned against the big window at the front of the guildhall. Here I had the perfect view of what was bound to be an interesting fight. I ignored the pit in my stomach as I watched Natsu and Laxus face each other, with a smirk.

 **Well I just couldn't help myself, but to put this up early on Sunday. I would love to hear what you all think so far. Oh and trust me when I say these cliffhangers aren't my favorite, but I gotta have some time to write the chapters.**

 **Anyways time to thank those who favorited this story, and that would be 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz.**

 **And I could never forget those who follow this story, so thanks to Alkus, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, avaiaal, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono.**


	15. What the hell just happened

Laxus glared at Natsu as Natsu then went in for the first hit. Unfortunately Laxus didn't even flinch as he caught Natsu's fist. At that moment it was clear that Laxus was playing with his food. I huffed in disappointment. I thought Laxus would be better than that, but it seems he's just another cocky bastard. Yet what very little expected was for Natsu to use this to flip over Laxus. He quickly turned the tables as he was about to land a hit on Laxus's back, but apparently Laxus had stupid fast reflexes as he flawlessly turned to the side. Leaving Natsu off balance.

With that Laxus pushed Natsu forward so he fell to the ground, but just like that Natsu came back somersaulting off the ground. He faced Laxus once again with a toothy smirk while Laxus's demeanor never changed. So Natsu kicked it up a notch by hurling a wing attack at Laxus. The flames were cancelled out! Not only that, they were cancelled out by lightning!

The pit in my stomach caused by Laxus suddenly made sense. I stood bolt upright no longer leaning against the window. My eyes went wide as I immediately recognized that magic. The odd way magic flowed through Laxus, the way he kept to himself, the way he put me on edge all made sense now. I continued to watch as I realized Laxus was a second generation lightning dragon-slayer.

They traded blows like it was nothing, but after a bit I noticed Laxus getting annoyed. He was over the fight, but now he had to finish it off. This is what he gets for playing with his food. Laxus sent a lightning attack at Natsu to finish him off but Natsu dodged, and everything slowed down for me. The lightning went passed where Natsu was, and then continued past me. It just barely grazed me never actually touching me, but leaving heat and static in my arm. The window I was leaning on at the beginning of the fight behind me shattered.

Everyone's eyes were on me as I screamed. My heart raced, and my body trapped itself in a memory. I screamed, begging for them not to. Even though none of them wanted to hurt me. My body was trapped reliving the memories. The memories of dragon-slayer lightning grazing me, taunting me, reminding me how in the next session they would be in control. How that evil man would course that magic through me.

I didn't want to keep screaming. I knew I was safe, and yet my body didn't care. I wanted to push through and get my body back, but I had bigger problems. My magic coursed through me threatening the ones around me. It took every part of me to hold back my magic, and yet it still dripped through. I found myself staring into Laxus's eyes. His eyes went wide, and horror spread across his face. All I could do was stare at Laxus while screaming and holding back my magic. I was failing though. Magic dripped out of me. I tried and tried, but I truly freaked out in my head when I felt crystals gathering underground. No No No No! If this attack slipped through not only would it seriously hurt Laxus it would also hurt the others around him.

Then instead of staring into Laxus's eyes trees came into view. My feet had left the ground. At that moment I stopped screaming. I was flying! Shit! Please say I hadn't transformed, please! I gathered myself as I looked slightly down to see a black clawed hand wrapped around my abdomen. It wasn't my claws. I hadn't transformed… but then how, no who?

I slightly turned my head to see the one and only she-devil holding me. Her black bat like wings behind her with bright white hair flowing. Yet she held a soft smile. Tears had dried on my cheeks. With a very slight smile I looked into Mirajane's eyes.

"Thanks, you can put me down now." I shifted my gaze towards the ground, towards Laxus as Mira gave a slight nod in response to my soft words. We went down landing gently on the ground. Mira quickly dispersed her satan soul, and stepped back giving me my space. Laxus was standing there with the same horrified expression as when I was brought to the sky. I calmly took a breath and stepped towards him with a faint smile. I could not ignore that everyone's eyes and ears were on me.

"Laxus, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare or hurt you or anyone else. My body trapped itself in a memory. Unfortunately instead of controlling my body I had to control my magic. My magic is dangerously strong. I held back as much as I could, but drips of it reached you in the form of an emotional attack. So I must say this… I'm sorry, but you may never speak of this. Of that feeling, of any magic you felt aimed towards you, or that I lost control even in the slightest bit." My voice was calm, steady, confident, and stern. Even with the breathes I had to take as I spoke to calm my nerves I still held my ground, and stared at Laxus. His fearful look had fallen, and now a blank face stared back at me. It was clear he was trying to comprehend what just happened. I wasn't expecting him to speak up as if it was only us.

"Why that emotion?" His voice was shaky. I heard his heart beating fast. He was using everything he had to hold his blank expression. I froze… my eyes went wide. No. He was asking about the feeling. He realized this was his only chance to get the little information I was willing to give. My heart was surprisingly calm, but my breath was hard to control.

"That was what I felt in the memory I was trapped in." I spoke slowly, refusing to look at anything other than Laxus's eyes. His face returned to pure horror. I knew what was coming next, but I didn't make it any easier to hear. His heart speed up, his breath hitched and became shaky.

"But… that feeling… the feeling of… horror, of unimaginable, unbearable, unstoppable…" I couldn't help it. He gasped for air trying to finish his sentence. I shut my eyes, faced my head towards the ground and gripped my skirt tightly as I finished his sentence for him.

"Pain." One simple word. Tears raced down my cheeks. His breath and heartbeat were fast, but what really hit me was the reaction the others had. One word. I spoke so quietly. Only the dragon-slayers heard. Eyes went wide, they gasped horrified by our words. It clicked in Natsu, Gajeel, and Wendy's heads at the same time. I had to stand there, but it was happening again. I would be forced to face those three again. I couldn't.

My fists tightened, but it was no use. I ran. I ran through the confused mages and horrified dragon-slayers. I ran into the forest. Finally after almost forever I slowed to a stop. With deep breaths I took in the world around me.

I was deep in the forest. How do I keep finding ways to cause me to hide away from everyone? Why am I alone in the forest again? I stand here doing nothing, breathing in everything, and falling into nature.

It's really interesting knowing everything going on around you. Especially when someone comes close to you. Feeling their heartbeat, and how their breath mixes into the wind. Wendy's approaching. Slowly with a fast heartbeat and twiddling fingers she walked towards me.

"Elle… Are you okay?" She spoke loudly. She was clearly worried. Soon enough she was in view, and I couldn't help but smile. That weird feeling came back if only for an instant. I swear that girl always finds a way to be embarrassed. She approached me a little quicker with her trademark slight blush.

"I guess… Just… a little overwhelmed." I struggled to find the words I wanted. A focused and puzzled look covered my face as I spoke. I stared at the ground to keep my focus on my words, but once I finished I glanced up at Wendy. Concern was written across her face. I couldn't look at her face turning back towards the ground. I wanted to stop her from worrying, but I couldn't lie to her. It seemed she would see threw my words to the truth anyways.

"If you would like to talk I'm fine with listening, but I understand if there are things you can't say. I would like to help you somehow." Her face only brightened as she faced the ground trying to hide in her bangs. Her fingers only twiddled more. Her voice was soft and soothing, but laced with worry. After a moment of taking her words with a slightly awestruck expression I couldn't help but giggle. She was a mess. A mess of so much yet her intentions were clear as day.

"What! What's so funny?!" Her eyes shot up along with the rest face. A blush shown on her face as she stared at my giggling figure. A smile fell upon my face as I took a breath to calm down. I couldn't help myself; I knew my words would only make her face brighten, but how could I not speak up. Looking into her brown eyes with a simple smile on my face I spoke up.

"You're so nervous! Your nervousness even overpowers your worry! It's cute." As expected her face got a bright new coat of blush as she squirmed under my smile. Quickly her mouth answered for her. It was clear she wasn't thinking when her words tumbled out of her mouth.

"I can't help it! I'm just trying to be nice!" She froze in her tracks the moment her mouth closed. She was clearly surprised by her own words. While I was just giggling at her antics.

"It's alright. I just couldn't help but tease you. Though I'm happy you came after me. It's been hard. Somehow I keep finding ways to end up alone." My voice slowly softens as I speak. Soon enough my smile becomes faint as I stare at the ground. Her shock had dissipated as she gathered my words. After a moment of silence I was shaken out of my daze. Wendy seemed to forget her quirks as she stood tall making her way towards me. It seemed she didn't need courage or confidence. It seemed she had one thing to do, and she was going to do it. She was right in front of me. Our eyes locked as she gently placed her hands on my shoulders.

"I'm sorry. You seem to be dealing with a lot. I'm sorry we can't help you out more, but keep trying and keep coming back. We will do our best, and I will always be there when you need me." Her smile radiated across her face. All of me softened under her gaze. Those words flooded my mind. A simple smile tugged at my lips, and just like that I dropped myself into her arms. I limply hugged her. I can't hug people or touch people normally. One wrong move and I can crush bones, but here I fell into her grasp and it felt like I was really hugging someone. For the first time it felt like I was really hugging someone, and there was no fear just comfort. She held me tightly. I felt how her chest rose and fell with each breath. I felt her heartbeat.

We stayed like that for what seemed ages. I wish we could've stayed like that until night came upon the sky, but slowly drifted apart. With a smile we gazed into each others eyes. It was time to go back. Yesterday Wendy stood up for me when I was questioned, today she came after me to see if I wanted to talk or needed something. I knew we could go back, and that we should go back. Even with all my worries of what the others would do once I arrived I knew i would be okay because Wendy would help them understand my silence. With that we walked back, and faced confusion and worry head on. We had fun in the end though.

 **Thanks 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting this story.**

 **Can't forget to Thank Alkus, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, avaiaal, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following since they do get the first chance to read it.**

 **I'm sooo glad I got back into the swing of things. I have so much planned, and just can't wait. I would love to here you guys thoughts. So with that I hope you enjoy, and I'll see ya'll next Sunday.**


	16. The job board

It's been a week since the Laxus incident. I've had fun. Wendy and Romeo are really fun, and I went on another job with Natsu and Lucy. Happy tagged along as well. Apparently he's an exceed and so is Charle and Pantherlily. Today is pretty uneventful. Cana is drunk as usual, and Natsu is fighting with Gray yet again. Erza is eating cake trying to ignore the idiots behind her. Laxus is upstairs sitting around, and I swear he keeps glancing at Juvia. Either way I'm bored.

"Hey Elle! We're going on a job! Come on!" Lucy comes my way with her classic smile. I smile back at her. So Lucy and Natsu want to go on a job. The last two were very interesting. Natsu got to fight a creature in a cave. He's surprisingly good, but he still acts like a child. Now Lucy is dragging me to the rest of the team, aka Natsu and Happy, at the job board.

"Oh hey! You found her, awesome!" Clearly Natsu sent Lucy to find me. He is overly enthusiastic about this. Although I've learned to expect this from Natsu it's still strange.

"Yay! Now we can go on a job! Go ahead and pick one Elle." Happy just feeds off Natsu's energy it seems. Those two are like nobody else. Of course I couldn't help but smile. Then his words dawn on me. Was Happy telling me to pick a job?

"Yeah, it's your turn to pick a job." Lucy giggles before responding, clarifying Happy's words. My smile quickly faded as I stared dead ahead. Crap I have to find a way out of this!

"What? No you guys can pick." I leave a faint smile hiding my worry. For once Lucy and Natsu have the same confused look. It's strange to see Lucy confused, and honestly a little off-putting. I've seen her confused when gathering information or trying to see how things go together, but this was different. It was eerie how the two had the same look on their faces. It sent shivers down my spine, and Lucy's tone did not help one bit.

"Um… It's your turn though. Natsu picked the last job, and I picked the first one you went on with us." Her voice was raked with nervousness, but surprisingly little to no concern. She was just confused and nervous. I've quickly learned that Lucy gets scared easily, but in a way of being nervous about something she doesn't think she can handle. I evaluated her words, and easily found what I needed. With that I calmed my nerves, straightening up a little as I sank down while trying to hide my worry.

"What about Happy doesn't he get a turn?" My defenses kick in. I seemed like myself… no I felt like myself. I now had a grasp on things, and was finding my way to what I wanted. Happy seemed a little shocked by my words. Though he quickly got over it, and to my confusion a look of almost understanding rested on his face.

"No. Happy has lost that privilege after several stupid almost inappropriate choices." Lucy was straight to the point, and just for a second sent Happy a glare. She twitched most likely remembering one of such choices. It was clear that Happy could easily become a pure annoyance to Lucy at times. While everything was clicking together I was still having a major problem.

"Well that sure sucks, but I don't want to pick the job." I shrugged it off as I spared a glance at the board with papers pinned to it behind Lucy. It did not help me calm my nerves though. Seeing all those papers that everyone looked at everyday only set a me on edge.

"Come on! Since you're part of our team it's your turn!" Natsu became insistent. He was getting on my nerves. I didn't have to! He looks at the board and picks a job so naturally even though it's not natural. How can he be so idiotic as to not realize how unnatural it was to read those stupid papers?!

"No! You're an idiot! It's not natural to look at that stupid board and pick a job! It's just not!" I found myself clenching my fists as I glared at the ground. They didn't make sense. I just didn't understand how they came to do the things they do so naturally.

Then I felt Natsu's hand on my shoulder. It was warm and calming. I looked up to find my bright purple eyes staring into dark calm ones. His eyes were a deep dark brown/black/grey. I had never seen Natsu like this, and it reassured me. My breathing steadied as everything seemingly seeped away from us. A sense I remember from when I was very little flowed through me. It was a calm caring sense that shared familial love. Lost in the moment I did something only a few people would understand. I closed my eyes went on my tippy-toes and gently rested my forehead on Natsu's. He fell into the moment as well and closing his eyes while our foreheads rested against each other.

"I'm sorry. I guess I was being really stupid. So… how about we ask Lucy for some help?" His head fell back as his calm words hung in the air. Our eyes were open once again, and I saw Natsu smiling calmly at me without any bit of overbearingness. I smiled back at him as I took in his words. He quickly understood me, and gently grabbed my hand. We turned towards a confused Lucy with dopey grins.

"Well Luce it seems we're not going on a job! Elle has something to ask you instead!" Natsu was beyond excited. He seemed ecstatic at the fact he was now my kin. That I would have to deal with soon. I can only hope none of the other dragon slayers (or Levy, damn her smart observations) saw this interaction, and that Natsu continues to be dense. I'm so screwed if he questions me about why I would know that interaction or why I would have kin. Either way that problem will be for another time because right now there was a befuddled Lucy before us.

"Uh… Okay… what's up?" She quickly got over the shock of the sudden change in plans. With Natsu around I suppose she would have to be able to adapt and handle the most random changes in plans ever. Her words were drawn out as if she wasn't sure what to say. Lucy was clearly trying to point out she had now accepted the abrupt change, but her kindness kept her from urging me on in any way that could remotely be rude. I took a deep breath clenching the hand that wasn't intertwined with Natsu's. I felt his hand heat up, but gladly when I glanced at it our hands were not on fire. So with that looked straight at Lucy with a calm smile.

"Will you please give me and Natsu lessons on reading and writing?" I didn't even have to keep my breath steady as my natural confidence flowed threw me. I stood my ground with a prideful smile as I saw Lucy's eyes widen. It was a second later she was over the shock as I saw everything click together in her brain. She was slightly upset she hadn't understood before, but quickly got over at she realized that I was able to handle what I just did. Lucy in particular was someone who would understand how that was for me since she was there for my last two losses of control. She gleamed with pride along with Natsu as they smiled at me.

"Of course! I have the perfect idea give me a moment!" That took me completely off-guard. Lucy was that last person I suspected to go off of their instincts. I had seen her many times having to fight her flight instincts in battle. She left a shocked and blinking Natsu and me behind.

I watched her scramble, with a goofy smile plastered on her face, all the way to Levy. When she got to the bookworm she told her something most likely her idea. The petite woman seemed worried, but with Lucy's excitement and a few more convincing words she agreed. I had never seen Lucy like this as she bounded off to Mira. While Levy went off somewhere else. What really confused me was that it seemed that Levy was off to gather some things. Yet my attention was pulled away as Mirajane took the stage. Soon enough everyone was reasonably quiet.

"Alright! Two of our very own members have a surprise for us! For this surprise we need things a little less broken. Also it would be lovely for the tables and chairs to be lined up in front of the stage, thank you. The surprise will be revealed in ten minutes." Everyone listened to Mira as she cheerfully announced a surprise. Not much was adding up, but people still did as told. Well at least a few did. While Natsu and I just stood there, still holding hands and puzzled as can be. Ten minutes seemed to zip by as I lost track of Lucy and Levy.

"Well hello everyone! Levy and I have special surprise!" A way too excited Lucy grabbed my attention as she stood on stage. Practically instantly everyone quieted down. Then I found one nervous but smiling Levy next to Lucy on stage.

"Thank you all for quieting down. Lucy and I are giving a free beginners reading and writing lesson. Anyone in the guild is allowed to listen in. We only ask you try to keep it down if you're not joining, and please no throwing things towards the teaching area." Levy spoke up with a surprising bit of authority. Of course she was polite as she spoke, and her voice seemed to be slightly laced with nervousness. Yet I've never seen this part of Levy. It was clear part of her was an excellent teacher. Then I realized what she said. Lucy did all of this just because of me. A smile grew on my face.

Natsu smiled as well as we headed over to take a seat. Slowly people came as well. Auska, Wendy, and Romeo came because they most likely needed the chance. Gray got roped in after getting into an argument. Freed came intrigued by how the two women would teach. Gajeel came once he heard 'shrimp' was teaching as if he was surprised. He sucks at hiding his feelings towards her, at least from me. Laxus disappeared but that was reasonable he still was on edge around me. Evergreen bombarded Elfman for spouting off some randomness about being manly and joined the group. She claimed it was to keep him in check, but unfortunately for her Bixlow could use that to tease her as well. Apparently Cana was actually off on a job. So was Erza, Laki, and Max. I noted how it seemed Max went with Laki.

I was amazed by what Lucy had put together in a matter of minutes. Mira and Lisanna kept working but also listened in. This was fun and interesting. Though I definitely had a hard time, but not as hard a time as Natsu. He really does have short fuse. He set his paper on fire by accident several times. After the sixth time I couldn't help it as I let a bit of calming magic his way to keep him from burning more things. We had fun though, and I got a basic understanding of reading and writing.

 **Thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **I got to thank Alkus, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following.**

 **Hope everyone enjoys. I've got more coming next Sunday... hehehehehe (could we learn more about Arrona's past)**


	17. training over emotions and memories?

A day after Lucy and Levy's lessons I got roped into going on a job with Romeo. It wasn't a hard one. We were just helping some welders. I kept an eye out for trouble, and pointed out flaws that they could fix while Romeo helped with the basics. Then my next endeavor was learning about rent. It was quite funny how Lucy acted before I reminded her I was paying half. We worked it out, and I learned a lot. Soon enough I fixed my budget.

So three days after Romeo and I went on our day long job I found myself in the training area with Wendy. I learned a lot about her techniques. After a few hours of training it was lunch time. I was getting much better at controlling myself. We headed back towards the guild hall smiling silly.

"I couldn't help but notice your very dodge dependent. Why would that be?" Wendy spoke up after having been in her thoughts. She had her usual nervousness. It was an interesting question. It seemed Wendy had grown more comfortable around me.

"Well it's mostly because it's easier to dodge and learn than hurting someone too much by accident." I allowed the truth to flow. Although Wendy didn't always understand she still liked learning things about me. Her eyebrows furrowed as they normally did when she gathered new information about me. I couldn't help but smile as I watched her think this through.

"You seem to hold back a lot. Maybe if you found someone you didn't have to hold back around you would be less on edge." The words sunk in as I slowed down. I never thought about it before. Someone that I didn't have to hold back with. Huh… It would have to be some sort of monster though. Those creatures seem to be the only ones on par with me, but I guess that's reasonable. After everything I am truly a monster, there is no doubt about that.

"I guess so." The only response I could think up softly tumbled from my mouth as a slightly smiled at the ground. I notice Wendy gain the same demeanor as we walked slowly side by side towards the guild hall.

All of the sudden something hit me. An energy… no an emotion. It was strong. I quickly recognized it, but I was still to late. The panic attack engulfed me from the inside out. I was thrown into dreadful memories as I stopped. Leaning on my knees I panted trying to stay calm only to fail miserably.

Wendy quickly noticed this. Her eyes grew wide as she tried to gather her bearings, but once I reacted to the first thing I was thrown into all she could do is stare at me in horror. I breathed heavier as I felt the adrenaline that surged through me that day. The forest that little five year old me was running threw. Hating every time I turned back to see the men still chasing me.

One turn too late. My head lashed back to hopefully see no one, only to be faced with the men still chasing me. Horror ran threw my veins quickly replaced by pain as I tripped over a fallen branch. The splintered wood rammed straight threw my abdomen. Right under my left ribs I felt the wood just barely reaching my back. I screamed in agony as my searing blood burned the wood. As they approached the screaming girl before them I ended up being tossed into another memory.

The lab. The dreaded piercing metallic scent coated the place. Its scent was tinged with magic along with static. The cool touch of leather and metal fused restraints was clearly binding my ankles and wrists once again. The stone slab my back was pressed against reminded me what was next. The tinge of static increased as he approached. That sadistic gleam in his eyes showing how he truly felt even with the blank look plastered on his face. The voice saying all clear echoed throughout the room.

"PLEASE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS! NOT AGAIN, PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU! WE'RE NOT THAT DIFFERENT! PLEASE, JUST STOP!" My screams ran from my throat, wishing I could get threw to him somehow. Yet as always all it did was worsen the soreness of my throat in the end. As my screams quickly turned to ones of agony. My body convulsed as dragon-slayer lightning ran savage threw my body. It felt like another eternity before the cruel end of it. The lightning slowly gathered within me, pulsing before exploding out of me.

Just like that I found myself in another place. I was staring into a middle-aged man's pleading eyes. This memory ran me ragged. I gulped at the realization of being in a memory that still left me with nightmares. I was told to teach him what loss is. Now I can't exactly remember how I know the feeling, but it was something that I never wanted anyone else to feel. Tears rolled down my face.

"No one deserves that! I will never!" Cries scrambled threw my throat. This man did not deserve to be tormented in any way. His eyes were pierced with worry as fear radiated out of him. Watching this interaction before him was torture enough. I was scolded as I continued to refuse. Then the elder man forcing me to do something so heinous pulled out his trump card. His magic flowed into me, and my body did something evil. As I stared at this man who was filled with fear and worry my body did something unforgivable. I felt a pull, a tingling, a pressure low in my abdomen. It was nice in a way that was just wrong. It made me want to puke to make it wrong. To my horror I felt the underwear on me begin to get wet.

"I'M SORRY! I'LL DO IT! JUST STOP! This is so wrong!" The feeling ceased just like that as the feeling of absolute loss intertwined with my magic and flowed towards the poor man at my mercy. Tears covered his face as his words were no longer understandable.

Everything hit me. I remembered. I remembered when I was little. Elle… the happy named laced with unknown agony became real. The women who cared for me as a baby, who helped me with the basics of control.

That day when everything changed. People. So many people were in the forest heading our way. They became loud. Elle with her long straight light brown hair that went just below her hips shushed me, and put me in a dark cabinet. It became loud again. They were fighting! Elle was fighting all those people! It grew quiet. I heard Elle trying to break free of people's grasp. I quietly looked outside the cabinet. She was on her knees with one man on either side of her, holding her arms. The rest were in front of her, facing her. A man staring her down was in front. He sneered at her. Clearly he believed she was disgusting.

"You will never get her! As long as I breathe she will be safe!" Elle spoke with disgust in a way that was almost a growl. Realization overtook me as I realized this man was after me. Being three years old with so much new information it took me time to process everything. Then the man kicked her sending her into a coughing fit. She was defenseless and he kicked her!

Rage took me in as I ran towards the man quickly transforming. I scratched his arm deep before his men went after me. I had no combat training being so young, and was only about as strong as one of them. They quickly took me down. A man holding each part of me as I thrashed uselessly. He glared at me before snickering.

"Well it seems that isn't the case… but it would be beneficial for me if it was." She snarled at him as she weakly fought against the men holding her to no avail. Her heart rate was fast due to the adrenaline in her veins. Her breath was heavy but strong. Her arms were bruising due to the men holding her while she thrashed about. Her abdomen and knees were very bruised, and there was a cut on her face from the sheer force she was punched with. Along with that her knuckles were bruised and bloody. I had never seen her like this, and never wanted to again. Yet when I looked into her dark, forest green eyes it was still her. Prideful and happy.

"NO! SHE'S MINE! STAY AWAY! SHE'S MINE! NO, YOU CAN'T HAVE HER! ELLE'S MINE!" I screamed, hoping it would somehow help. Tears began to coat my cheeks because I knew it wouldn't help. I knew what was going to happen. Elle glared at the man before looking at me. A soft smile spread across her tired and bloody face.

"Arrona will be okay. No matter what. You monsters will never control her. Even if I die you will learn she is strong, and that she will always do the right thing. For a monster is a creature that has done the wrong thing, but has no remorse or guilt for it and would do it again without thinking twice. That is what you people are monsters, even though you're human. Now you and Arrona will be forced to face that." She spoke as if talking to the men before her, but she stared into my eyes. I understood then, and somehow I had forgotten. So much had flown threw her voice I couldn't tell what she was feeling, but now I know she loved me. I was Elle's daughter.

"Pitiful Lair" He sneered at her. Glaring at her he took his katana out from underneath his blazer and pointed it at her. All I could do is scream no. They put magic restraints on me, leaving my screams to be nothing but sound.

"You hide and then try to insult me. She is an abomination and a monster. She will be useful with me instead of being fed false things by you." She never stopped staring into my eyes and smiling, showing me she would never lie. His katana went straight threw her abdomen. Blood soaked her shirt as she gasped in pain. I felt her pain as it rolled off of her. He took the katana out of her as she let out one last shriek. He wiped off his katana with a cloth and put it back under his blazer as she slumped onto the ground. Her heart had sped up as her breath stopped. Then she had no heartbeat and did not breath. Her dark forest green eyes lost their gleam and became lifeless as her long straight light brown hair was coated with blood and dust as it sprawled across her body.

Just like that I was dragged back into the present. My cheeks were covered with drying tears. My eyes were red and puffy, and my throat was hoarse. My magic fought itself inside of me. It wanted to leave but refused. I found myself on my knees staring into Wendy's dark brown horror filled eyes. "Sorry for scaring you… Warren… and my magic… sorry" I coughed as I spoke. I couldn't hold out anymore. I fell over onto the dirt ground as my eyes closed, and I passed out.

 **Pretty please give me some reactions. Hopefully you've enjoyed it. There's lots more coming. In fact next chapter is special because it's from Wendy's point of view.**

 **Now thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting this story.**

 **Of course thanks to Alkus, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following.**


	18. What can I do?

**Hi! This chapter is special because it's from Wendy's point of view, but I also used third person point of view. Just so you guys know. Hope you enjoy!**

Elle had been slowing down while we were walking, but now she had stopped completely. Her breathing was ragged as she leaned on her own knees. She was struggling to stay calm. Her eyes met mine, and my worry seemed to pour into her. Elle's breath speed back up as she stared at the ground once again with wide eyes. I didn't know what to do, and my worry skyrocketed as she gasped. As she fell to her knees she grabbed her left side. It looked as if her side had suddenly become in pain, and the scream of agony leaving her lips only proved this.

I stared in horror for less than a second before I kneeled next to her. I let my magic flow from me to her only to find there was nothing to heal. My eyes widened as I leaned back. Nothing was making sense. It was clear Elle was in pain, but there was nothing for me to heal. Her body was in perfect condition, but her mind and magic were going haywire. All I could do is stare in horror.

Her back straightened as her eyes widened. She went silent. For a moment I thought it was over. My muscles slightly relaxed as I dared to lean back. I sat there next to her, waiting for her next move.

"PLEASE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS! NOT AGAIN, PLEASE! I'M BEGGING YOU! WE'RE NOT THAT DIFFERENT! PLEASE, JUST STOP!" She screamed to my horror. Her voice edged with that of begging, and yet never seeming desperate. Even like this she held confidence. Yet I was shaken back to reality as I felt her magic become to erratic. If something wasn't done soon Elle's magic would spill out, and I remember how she stressed that it was dangerous. I went on autopilot. A mixture of instincts, realization, and knowledge lead me to pour calming magic into her. Something that was suppose to control the flow of things in an area. I slightly calmed her magic with it, but was still filled to the brim worry. I still had no idea what was going on.

Once she stopped speaking/screaming for a second her body convulsed, and an ear splitting scream of agony ran from her lips. I quickly readjusted. I couldn't lose my focus. I adjusted my magic to handle hers. I shook and breathed heavily as I was forced to watch her body convulse. It seemed as if electricity… no… lightning was coursing through her in the most painful of ways. I gasped as I realized why she's afraid of Laxus. Dread filled my core as evil thoughts of what Elle has been through ravaged my mind.

Her scream finally faded as her body slowed. She stared ahead with tears gathering in her eyes. Her breath was hoarse as she breathed deeply, and her chest followed in movements. I saw her physically gulp as she stared dead ahead.

"No one deserves that! I will never!" Tears fell down from her eyes. Elle sobbed out her words seemingly refusing to do something. My throat tightened because I couldn't get her away from the hell she was trapped in. Her teeth clenched, and her magic calmed just enough for me to take a breather. Words of refusal continued to scratch out of her throat in cries that were trying not to sound desperate.

Then her eyes went wide as she stopped speaking. A look of pure horror and disgust contorted her features. I saw Elle's back arch, but she looked ready to puke. I hated every second of it, and it only got worse. Slowly a new scent came from Elle. I cringed as I recognized it. A scent I was just learning about. My eyes widened as I stared at her in worry and confusion. What in the hell had happened to her to make her aroused and yet disgusted.

"I'M SORRY! I'LL DO IT! JUST STOP! This is so wrong!" Finally with all of her she begged for someone to stop. Does someone actually have magic that could affect people like that? She gasped as she returned to sitting on her knees panting. Hatred, disgust, pity, and so much more could be seen in her eyes. Her magic went haywire yet again. I scrambled closer to her to give her calming magic.

She stopped. Her magic. Her gasping. It all just stopped. Her eyes widened in some sort of realization. What was happening? I no longer poured magic into her as I studied her with worry and confusion etched into my face. It seemed as things overwhelmed her as she looked into nothingness with fearful and angry eyes. Her magic went off again, and this time I calmly did as I had been doing. She glared and growled at her memory, and I wished I could pull her out of it.

"NO! SHE'S MINE! STAY AWAY! SHE'S MINE! NO, YOU CAN'T HAVE HER! ELLE'S MINE!" I froze as she screamed. Her fists were clenched digging into the ground. She just said Elle's mine. Suddenly worry and disbelief engulfed me. I stared at her with wide eyes. Who is this girl? Why does she hide her name? How dangerous could her magic possibly be? What had she been through? … Has she been pretending to be that Elle to hide the fact that that Elle had been taken? Did I really know her at all?... Or was she just pretending?

I stared ahead with my mind going crazy. So much was running through my head. While she just continued crying and randomly screaming for them to stay away. Soon enough she stopped screaming, and it seemed as if she was running out of tears. She stared dead ahead in horror and disbelief. My magic stopped as I watched her blink back into reality. She looked straight into my eyes. I was scared. I didn't know what to think or feel, so the only reasonable emotion shown through. Fear.

"Sorry for scaring you… Warren… and my magic… sorry" Her voice was terribly hoarse. It was as if she would choke on her own words. I could only read one thing in her vibrant purple eyes… concern. Just like that her eyelids went down along with the rest of her. She was laying sideways on the dirt passed out.

For a moment I forgot about my dilemma when it came to the girl before me. I saw her passed out panting and I freaked.

"MIRA! LUCY! SOMEONE! HELP! SOMEONE!" I continued on screaming. All I could do is hope someone could hear me.

The guild hall had been too loud for anyone to hear the screams of the young girls, but as soon as Wendy's ear piercing scream reached Natsu. His head shot up as he stopped fighting in the brawl he ended up in. A few members curiously noticed Natsu's strange behavior, but were quickly thrown back into the brawl. Natsu had never heard Wendy's voice filled with so much fear and desperation. A look of seriousness fell upon his face as he walked over to Lucy.

A hot hand fell upon the blonde mage's shoulder. She squeaked as she turned around to find a pink haired boy. With a sigh of relief she told Natsu not to scare her like that. Her hand rested over her heart as she calmed her nerves. Slowly she looked up only to find a serious expression on Natsu's face. She went rigid wondering what happened.

"Come with me." He took a deep breath before he spoke as to keep his worry under control. Lucy simply nodded worriedly. He turned away from her unable to look at her worried face. Her features were graced with fear… of him.

Lucy's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to find the words to ask Natsu what was wrong. He stopped at the bar. Lucy confusedly followed his eyes to Mirajane. Mira quickly noticed them. Once she was in front of them she looked at Natsu, and her eyes slightly widened.

"Hello Natsu. Do you need something?" Her voice was trying not to shake as she spoke calmly. As she saw his expression stay the same she turned to see a confused, worried, and scared Lucy glancing between the two. She put her things down as Natsu began to respond.

"Mira… Come with me and Lucy… now" His urgency left no room for debate. Mirajane had only seen Natsu like this a few times before, and she quickly followed them without question. Soon the girls heard Wendy's cries for them and ran.

Once I heard people running towards me I stopped screaming and looked up. Natsu was speed walking behind Lucy and Mirajane who were running towards her. Tears were rolling down their cheeks. The girls were soon sitting next to them with horror filled eyes.

"What happened!?" Lucy gasped out her words as she held her hands back. She was terrified to touch the passed out girl. I looked at them and scrambled over my words to explain quickly.

"We were walking back to the guild and she just stopped. She was having trouble breathing, and then held her side in pain, but… She wasn't injured. There's nothing I can do she's physically fine. Then she screamed, begging for someone not to do something to her. Only for her body to convulse as if something like electricity was going through her. Once she stopped she looked worried, and began to refuse to do something to no one. Then all of the sudden her back arched and she looked as she was gonna puke. She screamed apologies and agreed to do something. After she slumped over catching her breath she sat bolt up as if she just realized something. She became angry and scared. She held onto the ground like a life-line. Then she… she screamed for someone not to take someone away. She screamed like life depended on it. Once she finally stopped… she looked at me and apologized for scaring me. She said something about Warren and her magic before passing out." I spoke quickly through sobs. Each mage took in my words with horror filled faces. I silently begged for them to do something.

"Alright, Wendy get some water and a rag. I'm going to get Warren to see if he has any idea of what to do. Mira stay by Elle." Lucy shakily grabbed her bearings before getting to work. I took in my orders and went off. I hoped Lucy knew what she was doing.

 **Alright, so if you guys couldn't tell I would really like you guys to review, but since you guys might be unsure of what to say or a little shy I'll give you guys something to say. I struggled with the summary, so I was hoping maybe some of guys could come up with ideas to draw in people who might like it but don't quite get the summary.**

 **Anyways I just want thank Gabbicat18 and shadowdemon 1234 for reviewing.**

 **Also got to thank 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting this story.**

 **Of course big thanks to Alkus, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono as well for following.**

 **I hope you all have enjoyed. That includes anyone that hasn't favorited, followed, or reviewed.**


	19. Emotions and Explanations

Hot tea grazed my lips before flooding my mouth. I felt the unmistakable feel of crystals go down my throat. I gulped it down as it calmed my nerves and my magic. My eyes fluttered open as Natsu slowly pulled the tea away. He was standing over me with a worried look. I continued to look around, and quickly noticed my head was on Mirajane's lap. We were outside. Wendy gently put a cool wet rag on my forehead. I continued to blink as they all backed off a little.

They were all worried and scared. I slowly sat up. They all stared at me unsure of what to do. I took some deep breaths before reaching up and taking the cup of tea out of Natsu's hands. The cup was scolding hot. Natsu probably lit the entire cup on fire to heat up the water. I let the heat from the cup and the drink seep into my hands. With a smile I slowly sipped the tea until it was gone.

"My tea. You're smarter than people give you credit for. Thanks Natsu." I calmly thanked Natsu for his smart idea. I was calm and at peace, even when I remembered what had just happened. I was okay. Wendy was okay. Everyone was okay.

"I'm back!" I turned my head to see Lucy running towards us dragging a confused Warren behind her. Her worry slightly dissipated as she saw I was awake. I smiled at her and got up. Taking deep breaths as I stood up to Wendy and Mirajane's dismay. I put my hand on Warren's shoulder and looked straight into his eyes with a soft smile.

"Hey, deep breaths. It's okay." My voice was calm as he began to take deep breaths. "I know you're confused, so is everyone else. Come on." I waved my hand to get him to follow me. I went to the small group of people, and sat down next to Mira. Everyone stared for a moment completely unsure of what to do.

"So… What does this have to do with Warren?" Wendy was the first to speak up. It was clear she was determined to get answers, but… she was also blushing and twiddling with her fingers. A nervous disaster. I fought the giggle as she continued to hide her face. Taking a breath I calmed myself.

"Warren uses telepathy, and because my magic is highly intertwined with emotions when he had a panic attack so did I. Oh and Warren you should tell someone about your anxiety." I glanced around looking at everyone. Warren was beyond surprised that I knew he had anxiety, and that I had a panic attack. Natsu looked puzzled, but he seemed to be putting things together in his mind. Lucy and Mirajane shared a concerned look, as if not satisfied with my explanation.

Then there's Wendy… She was horrified and confused. The look in her eyes made my calmness break. It was if she was missing something… like reassurance. I didn't understand why. Sure it's clear how I terrified her, but it didn't seem like she was completely worried about my state. I kept glancing at her from the side. My eyebrows slightly furrowed in confusion and a little bit of worry.

"If you were trapped in your memories… then who is Elle?" She couldn't look at me. Her feet were neatly tucked under her, and she stared at her knees. Her breath was shaky. Everything seemed to freeze. She knew me too well, and yet not enough. That's a devilish combination. My heart sped as I thought of what I could've said aloud. The winds moved wisps of her Blue hair drawing me in… I've been going by Elle!

"Wendy…" I scooted closer to her. Uncertainty and something I couldn't pin, coated my voice. As the wind dissipated I gently moved her hair behind her ear, and brought my hand to her chin. She knew, in some unknown way, she knew why I didn't touch others, and how hard this was. I would never hurt her, but one scare and my fingers twitch upwards… her head would go upwards. Concentrated strength is beyond dangerous. Her eyes met mine as her chin left my hand. "She is someone I had forgotten… someone I had lost long ago… someone I cared about for many reasons… but she is not me, and she is not someone I want to be. Everything I've done I decided as me… Arrona." My breath became shaky as I stared into her brown eyes. The purple from my eyes were reflected in her own. I stared into those pools of brown and vibrant medium purple waiting for someone to say something.

"Ummm are we missing something?" Lucy quietly spoke up, but the quietness created by only nature made her sound loud and intrusive. The look of a raised eyebrow and raised shoulder with scrunched cheeks showed she wasn't sure that was her best plan. I blinked away from those eyes regretting ever wanting anyone to speak. Both Wendy and I blinked and looked around away from each other. Due to how close we were and everyone staring Wendy's cheeks were a pinkish-red, and I kept looking around and distracting myself so the others along with myself wouldn't notice the faint blush dusting my own cheeks.

"Yeah! What do you mean memories and Elle?" Of course shared his confusion without a second thought. Mira had been watching quietly while Warren seemed to have disappeared at some point. Everyone's eyes were on me, and Wendy curled into herself realizing I was going to have to share the awfulness I just went through. A faint smile graced my lips as my tea still had its calming effect on me. I closed my eyes and decided what to tell them.

"I'm unique if you couldn't tell, so panic attacks and such affect me much differently than others. I've been through a lot so when it suddenly became hard to breathe I was sent down memory lane. Unfortunately not the good memories. It seems I reacted to reliving those memories in an almost violent or scary way." I explained in a calm tone laced with apology for any fear I gave them. I watched as Natsu took this information in stride, surprising me by actually thinking it through rather than just accepting it. Lucy's eyes were wide. This affected her more than the others because she knew about my nightmares, and how sometimes she would have to remind me this is real. Wendy twiddled with her fingers as she quickly understood, but wanted to give the others a moment. Mira who had been quiet this entire time looked shellshocked. Then a soft smile returned to her lips. Her eyes were slightly coated with unshed tears.

Mirajane's arms wrapped around me tightly. Her chin rested on my shoulder. After a moment I untensed from the surprise, but I didn't hug her back. I don't want to hurt her. A faint smile appeared on my lips as i gained a serene look on my face.

"You don't have to tell us, but you can't ignore these things… okay?" I felt a tear fall onto my shoulder blade. Her voice was sad and fighting off sounding desperate. She hugged me tighter as I gently nodded. After a moment she released me. We all got up and went back to the guild. Then I slinked off to take a shower because to my disgust the memories had very much affected me. I smelled of arousal, and for once I was glad that Wendy got embarrassed so easily. I was also lucky to the fact that Natsu was an idiot that for once didn't randomly talk about weird smells.

Natsu… He was officially my kin, but the idiot, to my advantage, didn't recognize my dragonic gesture. I still felt off though. My instincts for clarifying who was my kin was only getting stronger. It was causing me to remember my past kin. In everything I've been through only four creatures/people have earned my respect in such a way…

 **Sorry for the late posting. Silly me got caught up in other things and forgot the day of the week. Anyways I've got to thank Alkus for reviewing. - My writing style is very unique thanks for noticing, but it still is changing although that probably won't. I'm very detail oriented, so I often create a picture in my head and that gets turned into the story. A big thanks for the summary it'll probably change to something similar in the next week or two.**

 **Alright onto the weekly thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, LevelXWright, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **As always a thanks to Alkus, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following. I hope you all continue to enjoy!**

 **That wraps up this week enjoy, share, and Arrona and I will be back next Sunday!**


	20. People

Emerald green eyes poured into my own purple ones. They were set beautifully in a young girl's face. She had a soft, bright smile. My heart sped up. The young girl's face was pale due to lack of nutrition. I stared at her, trapped in my awestruck soft smile. The girl leaned forward. Champed, small lips touched mine if only for a second. A quick peck on the lips, nothing more.

"I think I love you. I'm glad I got to meet you even though it meant I was taken from my parents. I'm happy. To the better times!" Her cheeks raised with her big smile. My heart raced as I stared at the young girl before me. Her tone was soft and calm even with the dry shakiness caused by slight dehydration and malnutrition.

Less than a second later her smile slowly dropped along with her eyelids. Yet those eyes that could be mistaken for emeralds still bore into me. Her knees bent and gave way. Her limp arms did nothing to cushion or stop her fall. Her hair fell into her face slightly as her body went to the ground. The chains connected to her wrists and ankles clattered against each other before echoing as they hit the ground along with the little girl's body.

The noise caught the guards as they came over in no rush. Her breathing was slow and quiet, but her heart raced. My eyes went wide. The guards reached us with sneers. They gave no mind to my horrified look. One man kicked her abdomen sending her into a nearby wall as if testing if she was alive. Her back hit the wall, and it seemed all the air in her was pushed out as she gasped. She didn't inhale. She didn't exhale. She didn't reach out. She didn't move… and her heart didn't beat.

I never let my eyes leave hers. Her side and arm clattered to the ground. Those emerald green eyes were half open. Something lost in them. They no longer could be mistaken for emeralds. They were shiny or glazed in a way that they shouldn't be. It seemed her eyes were shiny when they shouldn't be. A lifeless glaze coated her eyes as the rest of her gained the same look. She was dead.

I stared in shock only for her eyes to turn into a middle-aged man's hazel almost brown ones. The twisted feeling of reacting to feelings unfelt engulfed me. Soon I begged for the man to stop his magic. When his magic stopped flowing into me it meant it was time for me to use mine. I was to make the middle-aged man before me feel loss.

I remembered how it felt losing Elle, the one person who cared for me even though I wasn't her daughter or completely human. That feeling of when Delara lost her life before my eyes flowed through me. The feeling of destroying the few things I could create. The feeling of loss flowed through me to pour into the man before through my magic. Tears streamed down his eyes.

It felt like an eternity before I was told to stop. I pulled my magic back, to find myself feeling hollow. Everything faded in and out as I did as told. After using my magic that way it always left me hollow, cold, emotionless. It was just another reason for me to hate where I was and what I was forced to do. The silly thing is at this moment I'm unable to hate.

Soon I found myself staring into emerald eyes once again. She smiled, I smiled. This was the moment I met the young girl. Blood dripped. Dark red blood with grime coated the ground. The girl disappeared as Elle showed herself lifeless for an instant. I was back with the young girl again. Her back hit the wall. I silently screamed.

I opened my eyes to see blonde hair in my face. Lucy was hugging me… again. It was a nightmare. A tear had streamed down my face. I looked straight ahead. My wall had a new shelf I just saved up for on it. I breathed deeply as Lucy slowly let me go.

"It was just a nightmare you're okay Arrona." Her voice was calming even though I knew I was okay. That wasn't what my nightmare was about, but I hadn't lost Lucy. I still had everyone in Fairy Tail so there was no reason to worry about past loss. I returned her soft smile with one of my own. I'm very territorial, so no one was allowed in my room without my permission. Natsu learned that the hard way, but Lucy… Lucy always knocked and asked even if I was asleep. She had some sense of when I was okay with her coming in. She came in when she heard me having nightmares. I have only gotten one full nights sleep since I'd been here. I was used to it though.

After three nights of Lucy coming in after asking and helping me I taught her a song. It was one of the few things I had always remembered from my time with Elle. Elle hated false hope, and yet always let happiness guide her. I never understood it. Her personality could be so conflicting. I closed my eyes and sunk into Lucy's arms. I hummed telling her to sing.

" _The fire inspires… And energy flows through all… Balance is kept… So heartache and pain will always be… Energy flows through all… As the fire inspires… So it will be okay at least once… As balance is kept…"_ She soothed me. We laid down in my bed, hugging like sisters who need to comfort each other. I think Lucy let Natsu sleep in her bed so often because she doesn't like being alone. As a kid it seemed she never really got comforting touch from others, and was pretty lonely. For me every time someone had touched me it was violently. No one cared for my well being, but now I am safe with people who care about me.

Just another day, except for my wandering mind. I wanted to smile, but I just couldn't. Instead I sat off to the side slightly hiding. I couldn't bring myself to be alone. I sat taking in the chaos. Natsu, Grey, and Elfman were brawling yet again. Laki was babysitting Auska while her parents were out on a job. Max finally managed to drag Nab out on a job. Happy found a way to tag along on Wendy and Charle's job. Lucy was sitting off to the side working on finances. I was just too cute and funny watching Levy help Gajeel with his finances next to her. Mirajane was getting Cana her usual booze, and Romeo was trying to convince his dad to play a board game with him. I'm still not sure how but somehow Erza had convinced the thunder legion to go on a job with her. This left Laxus sitting up on the second level sipping his drink. There was no way in hell I could miss him staring at Juvia. Juvia…

The blue haired water mage was folding Grey's clothes off to the side while cheering for him in the brawl. It kind of hurt to watch her. To put it frankly she was obsessed. I've only seen two other people struck with obsession, but nothing this bad. It seemed Juvia didn't have any hobbies other than following Grey around. The thing that was really killing me was that she was mistaking it for love. Love comes in many forms, but this is not one of them.

I couldn't help myself. I ended up slowly drifting towards her. A faint smile crossed my lips, even though I have a feeling this plan of mine won't succeed. She had finished folding his clothes, and was now just staring at him. She clearly cared for him and held him in high regard, but she was lost.

"Hello Juvia." The soft words reached Juvia's ears. She blinked and was vaguely startled. With a simple smile that hid something which in turn sent shivers down my spine Juvia turned towards me. Of course she had to slightly look down as I wasn't quite her height. Awe and fading reality were clear in her eyes. A shot of pain ran straight to my heart.

"Oh, hello! Elle is your name right?" With a smile her voice dripped cheeriness. I gave her a light smile and a slight nod. Her smile grew. I swear for a second that smile twisted into one I knew all too well, but I quickly ignored it. She may be in my dreams, but there is no reason for her to bother my daily life.

"Yes. I just wanted to get to know you." I gave her a soft smile as I subconsciously bounced from my heels to my toes. Her smile softened. She guided me to a seat. It seems she wasn't comfortable looking down at me. I sat across from her.

"Juvia is very glad to meet you! Juvia loves going on jobs with Grey and making presents for him." I listened contently. My heart hurt yet again. I quickly learned that she only really thought about Grey. It hurt me more that she misconstrued this obsession for love.

"That's nice. Are you close to anyone else at the guild?" I stated my words carefully. It seems she find offense even when it's not there. My smile dropped for a moment as I watched her react. As she took in my words she contemplated things for a moment.

"Well I like talking to Laxus, but I'm quite close with Gajeel. I see him as a brother." She smiled as she finished. At the beginning she was quiet though. Others would have thought it's because Laxus doesn't like to admit he has social interaction, but I had hold myself together. No wonder Laxus seems aggravated by her obsessed state. I remember something about Gajeel and Juvia being in a different guild.

"Really? Weren't you and Gajeel in a different guild?" I felt like I was missing something. Puzzlement and curiosity flowed through my voice. My eyebrows furrowed as I looked up at her. Her face went blank for a moment as she thought things over. It's like I'm missing something that will click everything together, or help make things make a lot more sense.

"Juvia and Gajeel were part of Phantom Lord. Fairy Tail was very kind for accepting us after Gajeel destroyed the guild hall and beat up team shadow gear. As well as Juvia kidnapping Lucy. Gajeel and Juvia have done lots to apologize." She smiled brightly, that weird smile. Though I didn't miss her twiddling with her fingers. My eyes went wide as I understood her words. Of course I had more questions, but I didn't want to see who would break first.

"I see… What do you do when not on jobs?" I was at a loss for how to keep this conversation going. Looking around I returned to looking at her. I don't think I've ever been in an actual awkward conversation, but then again I haven't had many 'normal' interactions. I found myself playing with the wood of the table.

"Juvia makes things for her darling Grey!" Her smile grew as she stared at Grey. How am I supposed to take this? I just want know about Juvia not her obsession. Who knows how long she's been like this, and no one does anything about it! No one tries to help her! This isn't healthy. I was the first break. It would have been better if I pushed her apparently. I frowned as I looked up at Juvia. Placing my hand on her shoulder got her attention.

"I'm sorry, but you've got to realize this. You are obsessed. This isn't love it's an obsession." I was blunt. Her face dropped as she stared at me blankly. Soon she blinked and disgust and confusion crossed her face.

"No! Juvia loves Grey." I wasn't so naive as to think she would just accept this, but it hurt me that she would confuse this for love. Love has so many forms, but this isn't one. I couldn't let her continue this.

"I'm sorry, but this isn't love. In no form does love make you want to do everything for someone and lose yourself to them. I just want to get to know Juvia, and not your obsession." Desperately I tried to make her understand. I knew she wouldn't accept it today but… I have to get something through to her. Concern coated my features.

"I'm not obsessed!" She spoke sternly and stared me down. With that she turned away and walked straight out the guild hall. I can only hope I got through to her. That could have gone better, but I wasn't planning on doing that. My eyebrows furrowed as I sighed. My whole body drooped. It was strange. I didn't realize until now much I held my posture.

Walking over to the bar I subconsciously straightened up. I basically looked down at the ground the whole time. Delara would tell me I did the right thing, but she can't. I've always wondered if the young 6-7 year old could have actually been in love and understood it. I continued to ponder such things as I plopped myself on a bar stool. It shook. I hope no one noticed. I stared at the bar counter with a slight depressed frown.

It was about three minutes before Grey noticed me. He had somehow escaped the brawl. He sat on the stool next to me and got a cup of ice cold water. It's strange how I managed to mix myself up with the odd pair that is Grey and Juvia today.

 **Well time's a ticking. I just want to say that I have very differing views on ships. The ships I chose are because I somewhat like them and they fit in the story, not because I agree with them. Either way hope you guys enjoyed. Can you guess what Grey and Arrona end up talking about?**

 **Now, thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, LevelXWright, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **As always thanks as well to Alkus, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and XMiyazono for following.**


	21. My Past

"Why do you look so… depressed?" Grey's chilled voice reached my ears. I turned my head just enough to see his questioning face. One of his eyebrows was raised and his lips were quirked to the side. I sighed as I laid my head on my crossed arms. I want to give him a sarcastic look that asked him 'really?' but sadness seeped through and I failed miserably.

"Not sure… Why did you leave your lovely brawl?" My simply exasperated words drifted me deeper into the depths of my memories of her. As I started to lose myself I quickly noticed and turned the tables onto him. His curiosity was written on his face. I couldn't miss the slight eye roll he gave. He took a sip of his water before giving me the look I so desperately failed at only moments ago. This irked me, but his words made me forget.

"Fighting's tiring, and it doesn't fill up all my time." He was just saying this as if it was sarcastically obvious. I couldn't help it. He was being ridiculous, and my normal moves weren't working at the moment. I groaned as my left hand pressed into my forehead before scraping through my lose hair, dragging it out of my face. With that I sat up. I wonder if Grey or any one else will notice that I don't slouch?

"Well whoop-de-doo who could've guessed. What do you want?" I was over this conversation already, and my tone made that quite evident. With my head tilted I stared him down. Sarcasm dripped from my voice, receiving me a glare from him.

"I'm allowed to actually give a crap about the newbie, so don't toss me off." I ended up raising an eyebrow at him. As he finished his sentence; he took down the last bit of his water. With a nudge of his head he encouraged me to speak. His look of 'isn't this obvious' bothered me.

"Well I don't need you to give a crap." Irritation filled my tone. I was off my game, and how he seemed to have all my moves was pissing me off. With a sigh I stared at the various things set behind the bar. I really hoped he leave, but then again everyone here is beyond stubborn.

"Too bad. You look depressed, and I want to know why." He wasn't budging. Mira refilled his water, and he took another swig. His tone and laid back posture told me that I couldn't just cast him off. I continued to stare behind the bar. I noticed a few bottles of soda. I've only had soda once… It was interesting. Grey tried staring behind the bar as well, but I couldn't miss how he tapped on his cup. I have a feeling today is going to be one long day.

"I keep remembering someone." As I leaned back in my chair with a sigh of defeat, I stared at the ceiling. My voice was soft as I remembered that young girl. I drifted through my own mind remembering our impossible happy times. Grey straightened up. It seemed he was gonna quirk an eyebrow before he instead just tilted his head. I took a steady breath.

"Who are you remembering that could make you so down?" He was confused almost amazed that someone could affect me so much. I thought I should be hurt, but instead I found it nice I could surprise him, in an odd way. For some reason this calmed me. I took another deep breath as I closed my eyes. A soft smile graced my lips in an almost nostalgic way.

"A girl I met in a slave trade hub… Delara." My voice carried my serenity. I remembered her soft smile and emerald green eyes. I felt like I was one with the guild hall. An odd sensation I found myself in when I was lost in my happy memories. I always find this funny as all of my memories of Delara, were of us as slaves. I noticed as Grey's eyes widened. Little was known of my past, and apparently no one pondered it or the possibility I was once a slave. His breath caught for a moment.

"Slaves…?" The word seemed to mix with his breath. I don't even know if he knew he said it. His back straightened as he tried to process my words. I swear Mira stumbled as she overheard. I've quickly learned that Mirajane has a bad habit of eavesdropping and gossiping. "What do you mean slave trade hub?" His words were shaky. I opened my eyes, and looked at him with a calm expression.

"My… foster mom practically engraved my birthday into my head. She would say everyone needs a birthday. Anyways, if I remember correctly I was seven when I met Delara." My eyes drifted downward as I smiled, remembering when I first met her. He gulped as he thought over my words. Grey furrowed his eyebrows in worry. I see his brain working though my words. He had no idea what to say, so for a minute or two we sat there in silence.

"Why is she making you seem so depressed?" His voice was shaky. I could tell he didn't like how upset I was. Maybe, just maybe it would be good to share our better times. My smile faded as I looked at the bar counter. With a deep breath I waved Mira over. There was something about her smile that was off. I had to take another breath as to not cringe.

"One vanilla soda please." I calmly requested a drink. If I'm really going to tell Grey about my time with Delara then I'm going to need to keep my calm. Mira was surprised, and had to shake herself out of it. With a smile she obliged setting a mug of vanilla soda in front of me. Grey glanced between me and the mug as Mira drifted away. He looked at me with a puzzled and worried look. After a big gulp of the soda I decided to bring Grey down memory lane.

"Back then I was in a slave trade hub due to my… special abilities. When a shipment didn't come on time they grabbed a batch off the streets. Little kids, adults, elders, it didn't matter. Rebellious people were killed, and all were chained." No matter how hard I tried my voice was shaky. Grey was terrified by my words. I've always been a bit blunt. I stared into the mug before taking another sip. Even though my voice was shaky I wasn't. I let Grey calm down before I continued.

"But that doesn't answer my question." He was uncertain and confused, but he still wanted answers. His heart raced as he questioned if that was a good or bad thing to say. With my chest moving with my breath I turned towards him. A calm but almost blank look was splayed across my face. It was strange, but I knew what he was really asking. What happened

to her?

"Delara… she's dead. Has been for a long time. Now do you want to hear about her or not?" Saying her name I looked straight at him, yet I turned away once I had to say that she's dead. I felt I couldn't leave that there. After gathering myself I looked back up to see shock and horror written on Grey's face. I heard Natsu wince and Mira drop a mug. I glanced at Natsu to get him to stay out of it. Natsu gulped before turning away and ignoring us. Mirajane pretended nothing happened anyway. After a moment Grey nodded and settled into his seat. With a soft smile a took another swig of my soda. This was going to take a while.

Another batch from the streets was just brought in. More crying children, and adults shushing others. This time only one man tried to revolt. Cries became louder as the man was killed. I sat in the corner away from others as usual. I quietly watched as children hugged others.

Then I noticed one little girl that everyone strayed away from. She was about my size, probably six to seven years old. Her dirty strawberry blonde hair was filthy and slightly tangled, reaching just below her shoulders. She wore a dirt and grass stained pale peach dress that reach her knees. The bottom hem had a rip going partially up the dress. Her right sleeve was stretched and threatening to tear at the seam. A bluish bruise was at the edge of her sleeve. Unlike the others she didn't tossle her chains. Her arms were small, and kept movement to a minimum clearly to avoid aggravating her wrists. A smart move compared to the other kids messing with theirs for various reasons. One of her shoes were torn beyond belief as it was held in her filthy left hand. The other shoe had a major hole in it, but was still on her right foot. Simple white shoes scuffed, dirtied, and worn down due to who knows what.

Yet there was one major thing that kept everyone away from her. Her light skinned face had a slight bruise, but it also had a soft simple smile. Her lips were chapped, but her smile held no malice. Parts of her hair were falling in front of her face. Her eyes were a shockingly bright emerald green. She was now a slave. Her parents weren't here, and everyone avoided her. Yet she was smiling. Who is this girl?

I watched the girl for the next two days. She always thanked the guards when given food, and was very polite. The kindest person I've ever encountered. No one knew what to make of her. Finally I decided to find out why she smiled.

 **I've been really excited to write this part, and then finals came up. But I will still post on time. Sorry to leave you on this cliffhanger.**

 **Now thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, LevelXWright, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, and sugerplumz for favoriting this story.**

 **Gotta thank Alkus, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following.**

 **Hope you all enjoy... oh, and thanks to Alkus for helping me with a new summary.**


	22. Delara

"Why are you smiling?" Even back then my voice held confidence, but it was hoarse due to the fact that I didn't talk much back then. I stood in front of the smiling girl with a weary, questioning look. She looked up at me from her seat on the ground. Her soft smile graced her lips, and of all things she giggled. Her giggle was so soft and simple she didn't even cough, even though she was clearly dehydrated somewhat. My breath caught as I stared at her in shock.

"Now I'm pretty sure you're supposed to introduce yourself first. I'm Delara." Her voice was surprisingly soft. Slowly and carefully she stood up. I quirked an eyebrow as my hands drifted towards only to flinch away. She held back her hiss. Once she was up she held out her dirtied hand. After a moment I wearily and gently grasped. I didn't quite trust her, but I didn't want to hurt her. Yet her smile was still there.

"Alright… I'm Arrona. Now will you answer my question?" I was weary, but got to my point. My head slightly tilted as I wondered about this girl. She made absolutely no sense so far. She looked down as if reminiscing. I searched for something in her face. She held no malice or anger.

"My mother and father always told me to focus on the better times. They don't have to be the best, just better than the worst. Also smiling makes me happier." She looked back up at me with a big smile. Her voice was kind and cheerful. It was unlike any voice I'd ever heard before. My eyes went wide at her answer. She was using her memories to get her through this nightmare. At that moment I remembered the fun times I had with Elle. A faint smile reached my face for the first time in who knows how long.

"I've never met anyone who thinks like that. I don't even know what to say." A strange lightness came to my voice despite its raspiness due to slight dehydration. I continued to have a soft smile as looked at her. She gained the slightest color at the compliment. Her soft giggle escaped her lips once again.

"Well thank you. Honestly it's kind of hard. I've never seen people like this. It's as if they've forgotten they're people. What have they been through to have lost the sense of being a person. It hurts when I look at them sometimes." She look to the ground before looking back up and at all the slaves around us. Her voice got quiet as sadness poured through it. Her smile faded, tears threatened escaping. I ended up looking around as well.

These slaves were chained, injured, and malnourished. After being put up for sale, sneered at, scrutinized, and treated like slaves they've all forgotten they're people. I forgot. How could I? Adults were caring for children despite their injuries and exhaustion. Elders were telling what they knew even though their voices were threatening to give out. They weren't happy, but most were content. We let the people who chained us take the one thing they shouldn't be able to. How could we forget our value, forget that we have emotions, hopes, and lives. I turned back towards her with a look of hopeful despair, and disbelief.

"Even I forgot. I can't believe it. Thank you for reminding me. We are people." I stared into her emerald eyes as tears threatened to fall from my eyes. She smiled at me. I noticed people who overheard our conversation. In this filthy room filled with chained and malnourished people hope grew even the slightest bit.

Delara and I continued to hang out. We reminisced in the times we had before being slaves. I learned much about her. Apparently her father got injured, so her mother had a full time job. The last she saw of her parents was her father being killed and her mother fighting others off. I told her how I lost Elle. We would talk for hours in our own little world. I once showed her how I carved. I'll never forget that look, how her eyes sparkled, and her smile grew beyond belief.

One day I got more food than I normally got. I had gained the slightest bit more strength. They kept weak to control me, but now I had the slightest chance to do something. Delara and I had our own little corner in which we would talk, smile, and watch the others. I would sometimes comfort the little kids. Delara always admired how I could stop the little ones from crying. I would overhear elders saying that Delara and I were this places hope. That day I went up to Delara with a goofy smile. I glint grew in her eyes when she noticed this.

"Delara I have a surprise, but I need your hands." She slowly got up as I motioned to her hands. Hope blossomed in my excited voice. Purple from my eyes mixed with her green as it was reflected in her eyes. She was so excited she didn't even wince as her bloody wrists clashed with her chains.

"I love surprises!" She smiled at me and carefully raised her hands. Her happiness was contagious as the few nearby had faint smiles. Her dry dirt covered hand rested on mine. I was weary. My plan was stupid, but I was seven. My smile shrank as I carefully slowed my breathing. My fingers twisted delicately around her chains. It was inevitable my nails touched her injured wrist. She hissed with her eyes squeezed shut.

"I'm sorry" Guilt racked my words. I hated that this hurt her, but maybe it could help her. My smile was gone, but she struggled to give a small smile saying she was okay. My face's features just barely softened. My fingers carefully pried her chains open. With bated breath I broke apart the chains on her wrists. As air reached her sore and bloodied wrists another his escaped her. One of her hands wrapped around her arm below her injuries. Every part of me cringed as she winced in pain.

"This is amazing! You broke the chains! Thank you! I found better times thanks to you!" She took deep breaths, and looked up at me. A smile was plastered her face. My breath caught. This little girl made no sense, but was wonderful nonetheless. I gently hugged her with a mirror smile.

She got three days. For three days she smiled. I cleaned her wounds. We talked, and enjoyed our better times. After three days the guards noticed. They gave her food with a sneer. She smiled and thanked them as always. Then they noticed her bare wrists. With a growl like tone they demanded what happened. Her smile faded, but she wasn't scared.

"I'm sorry. They broke off, and I didn't say anything because the chains hurt." This little girl who has seen and been through so much. She has been beaten and told believe she is less than a person, was apologizing. No one could believe this. She was so young, and yet so wise; holding kindness above all else. Sadness and genuine guilt was heard in her meak voice. But these men had no pity.

"That doesn't matter! You tell us right away you brat!" The man was mad, and pushed her. I stared in horror. How could anyone find this young, kind, wise, little girl to be someone who deserved to be pushed, yelled at, hated, or hurt? He spoke loudly, and glared her down.

He picked her up by her dress causing it to stretch. He put her down on her stomach. A whip was given to him. They rarely ever whipped anyone, but it was used to strangle revolting people as they were beaten. I froze as horror spread throughout me. Her head was turned so she looked at me. Tears escaped her eyes as she winced when the whip hit her back. Children cried, adults were horrified, and elders couldn't believe the sight before them. Every slave there believed on thing: This girl, Delara was the one slave who didn't and would never deserve this.

I slowly started to walk towards the scene before me. No one dared move to stop me. I wasn't angry, just horrified with disbelief. The colors of our eyes swirled together as they were reflected in each other's eyes. Tears fell down my face as well. There was no one in between us anymore. I had made my way through the tangled maze of people and chains. I just had to take a few more steps and I would reach her.

"No… You keep your better times." Her voice was soft yet coarse, just as unbelievable as her. The smallest smile graced her lips only to be morphed into a painful grimace. The few around who had heard had tears escaping them as well. This scene was too much to bear. I froze… A pained expression of understanding appeared on my face.

After that day the guards watched. They made it their mission to break this little girl. I washed her wounds, and tried to keep smiling. But that day haunted me. It didn't make sense to me. Everyone was different. It took 42 days for them to break her. Her smile dissipated, that glimmer or shine in her eyes was gone, she didn't talk about her past anymore. We were quiet.

One day she was sent to an auction, many were depressed that day. I didn't know which was worse never seeing her again, or seeing her broken with little to no hope. No one had the answers, and no one was sure if they wanted to find the answers.

The next day she came back… with a smile. No one could make any sense of her. It was clear she was bruised, but she was smiling. She tried skipping over to me, but ended up limping. I froze after standing up. A confused smile appeared on my face.

"There were people there! All types of people! Can you believe it! Some were irritated, and others were acting snotty. Can you believe we forgot again! We're people!" Her smile only grew as she cheerily spoke. She giggled! Everyone was astonished. We returned to before I broke her chains. The guards hated her, but couldn't do anything about her. They could find no way to kill her, and everyone silently made sure of it.

Two months later she came up to me with her soft smile. It seemed like just another day. Even though we brought hope to the others we were normally the only ones that smiled. We got food and water, and now had nothing to do. I smiled back at her because how could I not.

"I'm glad I met you Arrona… I think I love you. I'm glad I got to meet you even though it meant I was taken from my parents. I'm happy for the better times!" Her smile was soft along with her voice. Her tone was soft and calm even with the dry shakiness caused by slight dehydration and malnutrition. Her words overwhelmed me keeping me from noticing the hard time she was having breathing. Her eyes fell into mine… at least that's what it felt like. My heart sped up. I stood there awe-stricken by her words. I was seven. How should I react? So much ran through my mind as she stood before me with her soft almost sorrowful, yet not, smile.

Chains clattered against each other as her weak arms went limp with the rest of her body. She fell to the side hitting the ground. My breath hitched. Her heartbeat was fast. Her breath was slow, quiet, and distinctly labored. What was happening? The loud noise got everyone's attention. It went quiet other than some kids and guards shuffling. Her heartbeat and breath echoed to me as the others were quiet.

The guards approached with a sneer. They were in no rush. It was just another slave giving, so why rush? They gave no mind to my horrified look. One man kicked her abdomen sending her into a nearby wall as if testing if she was alive. Her back hit the wall, and it seemed all the air in her was pushed out as she gasped. She didn't inhale. She didn't exhale. She didn't reach out. She didn't move… and her heart didn't beat.

I never let my eyes leave hers. Her side and arm clattered to the ground. Those emerald green eyes were half open. Something lost in them. They no longer could be mistaken for emeralds. They were shiny or glazed in a way that they shouldn't be. It seemed her eyes were shiny when they shouldn't be. A lifeless glaze coated her eyes as the rest of her gained the same look. She was dead.

I fell with tears pouring down my face. No one could do anything. The guards carried on as if nothing happened. They sent someone in to deal with the body. Our hope was gone at that moment. I cried for hours. No one would get close to me though. Delara was the only one who wasn't afraid of me. Elders felt bad, but kept their distance.

Throughout the rest of my time there I would smile every once in a while. People were afraid of me so they never got close, but some elders had sympathy. New children heard the story of the smiling girl. How she gave hope to them, and everyone had that phrase engraved into their mind. 'Focus on the better times. They don't have to be the best, just better than the worst.'

 **Alright I've been planning this for a while so I hope you enjoy. Sorry it's a bit depressing, but in all honesty Arrona's back story is depressing in general.**

 **Now I've got thank 0evomel, Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, LevelXWright, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, pandragonic, and sugerplumz for favorting.**

 **And as always to Alkus, Darkwing Motion, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono thank you all for following.**

 **Alright see ya next Sunday!**


	23. Outside

I stared into my mug for a second before taking the last sip. Grey was silent. He was staring at me with furrowed eyebrows. It seems he didn't know what to say, but then again who would. Mirajane had disappeared halfway through unable to handle my tragic story. She never ceased to surprise me. He was worried about me, about what he should say. Finally as I put the mug down I turned to look straight into his eyes. We were eye level thanks to my good posture and his bad posture. His eyes were swirling with sorrow and agony.

"I'm sorry… That must have been really hard for you to talk about." Grey looked back down avoiding eye contact. His voice was filled with sorrow, and regret. The poor boy seemed to hate himself for making me relive my memories. What really caught me was it was as if he was trying to fight back his own memories. It seems everyone in Fairy Tail had something in their past.

"It was… but I'm glad I had to face it again. It's going to help me move on, and I never want to forget her. I have to remember her, Delara, so that she will have made in impact. … Once someone's dead it's easy for them to disappear, but memories and people are the proof that they lived… or that's at least what I tell myself." I lost myself in the swirling movements of my refilled mug of soda. A soft chuckle escaping once my soft voice finished its statement. A soft smile graced my lips as I continued to remember the hope she brought to us. Grey turned to me with slightly widened eyes. It was as if things were slowly clicking together in his mind. An understanding smile graced his face.

"It's a good thing to tell yourself, and others." His voice was calm, as we stared at each other. At that moment I realized he had been through a lot, but found a place here at Fairy Tail. "It seems I've run out of things to say… I've got to go. I need a job to pay my rent." He chuckled nervously as he switched between glancing at me and his mug. I want to say I never knew what to do in these situations, but I've never really been in an awkward situation like this. Grey nervously scratched the back of his head. He really helped me, and I found my instincts taking over. I got off my stool and used my hands to pull his head to mine. I stared at the ground as our foreheads were pressed together.

Instinct caused me to claim another member of kin. He untensed after a moment. We stared at the ground calmly for a moment. None of the other dragon-slayers were paying attention, so I let my worry fade away. Soon enough we escaped each others grasps with a mutual smile on our faces. Grey waved goodbye, leaving me happy with my soda. It was my third mug of it.

Laxus seemed on edge ever since Juvia left. I swear it was so stupidly obvious he had a crush on her, to me, it was laughable. He finally left, fidgeting. I could feel his magic and emotions slightly getting out of control. It left me on edge even after he left, so I found myself quickly finishing up my third mug of soda. As I got a refill Romeo came my way with a raised eyebrow. He had finally convinced his dad to play a board game only for them to tie, and Macao to grumble about how it made no sense.

"Hey Elle… ya good? You seem a bit… on edge, more like just off in general." He wearily spoke as he stood next to me in my seat. I turned to him blinking slightly before giving a goofy smile that may or may not have shown my fangs. His face only contorted into a slightly worried expression at this.

"I'm fine… Just haven't had soda for a while." I cheerily spoke raising my mug up before taking another swig. His head tilted as he furrowed his brows in either confusion or concern. Romeo seemed to be giving the mug itself a sideways glance/glare. The soda bubbles went through my stomach and throat with their indescribable texture. Maybe I should go to a less stuffy place before I start hiccuping, and setting things on fire.

"Ya sure that's soda?" He carefully let out his words hoping not to set anyone off. I tilted my head; I looked at him with curiosity. I know I hadn't soda in a while, but did it really affect me so much people thought I was drunk. Well I guess I was drunk on soda, but this is just a special attribute of mine. I ended up giggling at him.

"Of course! Now I'm gonna go for a walk." I cheerily spoke, excited to get to a less stuffy place. With one last gulp of my soda I put the mug down. The resounding sound was louder than expected, gladly nobody noticed the slight cracks in the bar underneath the mug. Okay maybe I shouldn't have had so much soda. I slightly grimaced before shrugging it off, and getting up from the spinny stool. Romeo blinked for a moment before hastily putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Woah! How about I go with you?" He gave me a weary, concerned look as I turned towards him. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. As I turned around his hand fell off my shoulder. With a pop of my hip and a quirk of my lips I gave him a look that asked 'are you serious'. His eyebrows only furrowed more.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." My eyebrows rose in challenge. Romeo faltered realizing his next words could be very dangerous. His shoulders slumped as he ran through everything that's happened in the past two minutes. My fingers inadvertently ended up tapping my hip. I had energy that needed to go somewhere. Maybe on my walk I could carve something. Delara flashed through my head, slowly a pretty pink dress brought itself to reality on her small form.

"No, No, you just seem like some company would do you well. That's all, normally you just go relax, but it seems you don't want to be alone." He fiddled his fingers, with a winced expression. Even with his worry Romeo kept his breath steady. I tilted my head. I don't think it's the best idea, but the boy has got me pegged. I really don't want to be alone, but like this I could easily do something stupid. Hmm… It seems since I was staring at him while thinking I might have shaken him up a little bit, whoopsie. I guess I'll just not keep him from following me.

"Whatever." My lips quirked the the side as I shrugged. I was calm, and truly didn't care if he followed me or not. He blinked as he watched me turn around. I was half way out the guild when he came back to reality and started following me.

With furrowed eyebrows and a curious look he followed me. I walked towards the lake enjoying the feel of the world around me. Delara flashed through me head again. I remembered all the things I carved when I was younger, only to destroy them to keep from getting in trouble. Apparently since I was thought of as a destructive monster it was impossible and very wrong for me to create things. I hated how I was hated because of how easily I could destroy things. When I was with Elle it always irked me during control lessons when I accidently destroyed something, so when stuck in dungeon-like places I found pebbles and such. I would carve. It would let me escape.

After a while I drifted towards the trees. My fingers kept tapping. I really did need to do something, so I studied the trees. Romeo raised an eyebrow at me as I let my fingers gently skim the trees. I didn't take me long to find two trees that seemed to have the right type of wood. Stopping I looked closely at the trees before using my fingers to gently scrape the bark away.

"Um… What are you doing?" Romeo took a step closer to me with a quirked eyebrow. His voice was littered with confusion. I knew it seemed like I was acting strange, but I couldn't help rolling me eyes at him. I dropped the pieces of bark in my hand as I stepped back. I decided on the tree on the right for it's pale coloring that didn't have orange-yellow streaks.

"You'll see. Now back up." I looked up and picked the branch of the tree I wanted. He gained a certain weariness, so when he didn't move I sighed. I looked at him while raising my eyebrows. With a wave of my hand he finally backed up.

I jumped up to the branch that was as high as three of me. My left hand grabbed the underside of the branch as my right leg went up only to slam back down. I landed on my feet with the branch in my left hand. I turned around to face a gawking Romeo.

"How… What…" He blinked at me as I raised my eyebrows at him. He continued to flail his arms trying to comprehend what just happened. I rolled my eyes, and walked towards the lake. He stumbled as he followed me.

We sat down on the bank of the lake. I smiled while staring at the water. I felt I was one with nature again. Delara flashed before me in my head again. I smiled more instead of shaking her away. I picked the bark off the piece of wood in my hands. I got lost in the world yet again. Magic slightly pooled in my fingertips; my muscles and nail beds were pushed out of the way as crystal like claws escaped my body. I hadn't been able release my claws in so long. Slowly my fingers took to turning the branch into a cylinder.

"What in the world?!" Romeo practically yelled. His eyes were wide as he continued to stare at my shiny vaguely translucent green-blue claws. It seems I forgot he was there… Shit...

 **I'm sooo sorry guys. There's finals and then I got sick, then my siblings got sick, and life man. Anyways sorry again I'll try to update again on time. I've also been getting sucked into side projects that don't have to deal with Arrona. Do you guys want me to post other things?**

 **Sooo Thanks to 0evomel, Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, LevelXWright, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, pandragonic, and sugerplumz for favoriting this story.**

 **Thanks to Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Horror2, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following.**

 **Goodbye and we'll talk soon. Enjoy!**


	24. caves

"How is that possible?! Where did those come from?!" Romeo's breath was heavy as he stared at my hands with wide eyes. My smile slowly faded into a curiously calm expression. He was leaning away from me. I glanced between the almost cylindrical piece of wood being carved by crystal claws and Romeo's awestruck face. It was like everything in him was telling him to be scared, but he wouldn't let himself be scared. A pang of gratitude flew through my heart.

"Calm down. These are just my claws, special attribute of mine." I waved one of my hands at him to try to calm him down. Romeo still seemed tense, but he stopped leaning away. His eyes never left my claws as I sighed. I really shouldn't be so careless. Yet it was too late now.

"How though! What would possibly lead you to have claws!?" He let most of his worries go as he waved his arms around at me. A frantic Romeo was not one I liked. He was loud, questioning, and bothering the natural world around us. I sighed again before tilting my head and staring at him with yet another 'are you serious' expression.

"Why do you care? I'm fine, and not going to hurt anyone with them." I gave him a scrutinizing gaze. My tone clearly showed how stupid I thought that idea was. He loosened up completely, and mulled that over in his head. Romeo glanced at me with a sheepish look before taking a deep breath.

"You're right. Sorry, it's just a little strange." He fiddled with his fingers. I would be stupid not to notice his glances at my claws. We settled into a calm quiet. He was fascinated as my claws calmly graced the wood taking pieces off of it. My smile returned.

I dug chunks out near the bottom creating the area where her legs connected to her dress. I worked, continuing to be weary of my strength and force. Delara came to life slowly. I gave her a wonderful dress with a poofy skirt and bows. I was extra careful to make her hair. I used the claws on my pinkies to dig out detailed sections, and make the depth difference from her dress to her body in areas like her arms. It's so much easier to carve with claws, getting to use all ten of my fingers.

Romeo stared awestruck at my careful movements. Only for me to freak him out as I emptied her eye sockets of wood. I saw a shiver run up him. I shook my head at his ridiculousness as I stood up.

"What are you doing?" He had a slight shake to his voice. His head followed my movements cautiously. I heaved a sigh as my shoulders loosened. Today was not Romeo's day. He was going to need to get a gripe if he was to keep following me around. I still had a slight smile though as I looked down at him trying to reassure him.

"Come on, I want to find some emerald." I waved my hand at him signaling to get up. After eyeing me carefully for a moment he graciously got up. I headed off towards the slight sensation of crystal. Romeo looked around, and didn't wait to question things. This was going to get exhausting quick.

"Where are we going? Why do you want emerald, and how are you possibly going to get it?" His tone was weary but curious. I couldn't help the sigh that left me. He began to eye me yet again. I thought it threw, and decided not to say or do something that would scare the crap out of him.

"We're going to a cave to find emerald for my carving." I said this in an over the top isn't it obvious manner. I spun on my heel to look at him as I gave a big wave of my arms. I turned back around when he decided to be moody. With a hmph he glared at me and crossed his arms. And with that I'm already getting tired of this.

We wandered around before stumbling on a cave that had strong crystal signatures. There was a very big tree that's roots entangling in the bottom of a rock formation. It took me a second to notice the cave entrance just above said roots. A smile graced my lips as I headed that way only to be reminded I brought someone along with me. I turned around to see Romeo frozen, gaping at the entrance. I rose an eyebrow at him and cocked my hip to the side.

"You weren't kidding! This is insane!" His voice was filled with worry as his eyes widened. He looked like he was about to try and talk me out of this. I'm starting to regret letting him follow me… Actually I regretted it way earlier, but too late now. With a sigh I shook my head, and with a quick shoulder pat I knocked him out of his stupor.

"Don't worry so much. We'll be fine. Anyways either you come with or don't, but don't try to catch up with me. I'd rather not have to deal with you freaking out because you got lost in the stupid cave." My exasperated voice obviously got to him because he simply gave nervous glances around as he followed me. I carefully held my carving in my left hand as I steadied myself while entering the cave. We were quickly in the shadows of the cave. It took about three steps for me to realize I'll need light.

Three, two, one, a bright light shown from behind me. I whipped my head around to see an almost frozen Romeo gulp as I stared straight in to his eyes. His right hand was held out to the side with a red flame dancing slightly above it. My brain was obnoxiously slow as I processed what just happened. My eyes tried to adjust to the dark… I realized I could spark a fire in my right for light… as I went to do that Romeo beat me to it, by using his fire magic.

Shaking my head I got my bearings, and Romeo slowly untensed. Taking a deep breath I thanked him. We ended up twisting ourselves to get through the natural contours of the cave. I stifled a laugh when Romeo freaked out because he almost caught my hair on fire. Gladly he didn't notice as he would question why I thought that was funny. _It's not like it would do anything to my hair._ We continued on until I noticed an area of flakey rock. With a smile I sped my way over.

"What? What did you find?" Finally Romeo's wonder and excitement over ruled any worry. I scoffed at him as he crouched down next to me with furrowed brows, and an odd gleam in his eyes. I finally found an area that will hold what I'm looking for. Carefully keeping my claws away for now I took apart the flakey material. Romeo's eyebrows furrowed as he noticed what we were looking at wasn't shiny.

I made it clear I wasn't explaining with a sigh and eyeroll. So he slumped his shoulders and watched confusedly. After a few moments I found a light grey rock with spots of white flecked throughout it. This igneous rock meant I should remember this cave. Not only could I find more crystals it meant deeper down was natural heat. This place was meant for me. A dug finding one more. With a deep breath I sensed the crystals inside them and called it a day.

"Alright! Let's go!" With a goofy smile I got up. The two rocks still in my right hand, and the carving still safe in my left. Romeo's eyes widened. He was confused again… How did I get into this mess? I looked back at him before rolling my eyes. He followed, but that didn't stop him from questioning me.

"But you didn't find crystals? Those are just normal rocks. Why did we come here then?!" His fire flickered as he tried understanding reasoning without having all of the facts. What is wrong with this boy I didn't think he was this stupid. After getting about two thirds of the way back to the cave entrance it was clear he was going to pester me until he figured this out… or I shut him up. Slowing down I took a deep breath.

"You'll see soon enough, but you have already made me regret letting you tag along. So shut up and learn some patience." My tone made it clear I was over his shenanigans. My face held an exasperated 'are you serious' expression, as we trudged on. He shut up and focused on keeping the fire in his right hand steady.

I didn't take long for us to get out of the cave. I took a deep breath enjoying the nature surrounding me. Romeo put out his fire and wiped off his clothes before he started staring at me. I ignored it. I have been stared at, studied, questioned, and much more. I was used to the eyes on me. Unfortunately it meant I wasn't as relaxed as I could be, but whatever. I sat on a tree root that was intertwined with a boulder. Carefully I put my carving in a safe spot as I heard Romeo gulp beside me. He was clearly unsettled by the empty eye sockets.

With that I got to work on the rocks. My claws came free as I slowly took pieces of the rocks off. I let myself get lost in the moment. Green sparkled soon enough as a delicate smile adorned my face. I completely forgot about Romeo as I set the hexagon length of emerald free.

I found three pieces within the two rocks that had fit within my palm. Setting the other two down next to my carving I inspected the third one. I felt the magic in it. It's deep color was just as mesmerizing as Delara's eyes. My claws scored the piece at first splitting it in half, before I gave the pieces a basic shape. I hadn't felt such pure magic like this in so long. Closing my eyes I cupped the two carved pieces of emerald in my hands. My hands heated up as I poured magic into them. After a moment I stopped and opened my hands to reveal two emeralds that fit perfectly in Delara's eye sockets.

After carefully placing the emerald in the eye sockets I placed shreds of wood over them so they looked like real eyeballs. Romeo was silent as he stared at me. We walked back to my apartment like this. He decided to wait outside while I put Delara away. In a split second decision I poured calming magic into her. It was doubtful, but maybe she could dull some of the nightmares. A tear escaped so I wiped it away and headed back to Romeo.

Neither of us knew what to say so we silently walked back to the guild hall. It was nearing the end of lunch time once got there. I excitedly sat down and ordered some food. Romeo scoffed at my absurd order. I rolled my eyes in response causing us to laugh. Halfway through our meals Wendy, Charle, and Happy came back from there job.

Maybe I should spend some more time with the kids my age. I smirked as I finished my meal. Romeo quirked an eyebrow at me, so I comically raised both my eyebrows for a second before dragging him with me to Wendy.

 **Okay so... I was so excited for summer break, and then hit a complete writers block. In other words I'm immensely sorry. I will try my best to keep up. I've a lot of ideas coming up. Also you guys can review to remind me to write and post. I would to here you guys thoughts, ideas, and theories.**

 **Now time to thank Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, LevelXWright, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, pandragonic, and sugerplumz for favoriting this story.**

 **I've gotta thank Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Horror2, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following and keeping up when I struggled to.**

 **I hope everyone enjoys and maybe some of you will share your thoughts. Well talk later gotta catch up on all that time my writing block stopped, so see ya.**


	25. ideas

"Wendy! I have an idea!" A smirk played on my lips as I held Romeo's wrist while heading towards Wendy. Wendy and Charle were in conversation before they turned their heads towards me. Wendy smiled at me, and ignored the skeptical look Charle sent my way. As I approached Wendy got to give me a hug. Charle rolled her eyes and put her paws on hips as she was in cat form.

"It's good to see that it seems you haven't caused much trouble… Unless Romeo has something to say." Wendy glanced over my shoulder at the boy who huffed in response. A simple giggle left her. I rolled my eyes and let go of Romeo. He stepped up to stand beside me while crossing his arms. Charle just scrutinized us all while sitting on the table.

"Say what you want, but now that you're here maybe the three of us should hang out." My lips quirked to the side as I raised an eyebrow at her. Romeo twisted his head to the side while keeping his eyes on me clearly questioning my plans. Charle was quick to glare at me. She still didn't like me, but I think she doesn't like how much less time Wendy spends with her now thanks to me. It's not my fault though that Wendy likes hanging out with me.

"Okay… I know you just got back from a job, but… wouldn't it be cool if you, Romeo, and went out on like an overnight job. Maybe one that's just a bit farther away than usual." The caution in my voice slowly dissipated as excitement for my idea got to me. I slightly waved my hands around trying to calm Charle and Wendy's nerves. I sent them a reassuring excited smile while my hands twiddled behind my back. Romeo sighed before dragging one of his hands through his hair as if thinking 'what else should I have expected'.

"I mean, maybe, I'm not sure… Well it couldn't hurt, if everyone is okay with it." I tilted my head to the side giving Wendy a pout. She gave in but continued to twiddle her fingers. With a sigh she looked at the ground before looking around trying to find the people we would need to ask. Giving me a stern look she sent me to go talk to Lucy. I happily skipped off while Romeo went to talk to his dad, and Wendy ended up in a conversation/lecture with Charle.

Lucy gladly said yes as long as Macao was okay with it, we took a communication lacrima, and were reasonable with the job we picked. Wendy gave me the job to show Macao and Romeo. Two towns over a caving system that was used for mining was becoming unstable for unknown reasons. It had good pay and was intriguing.

"Hey we picked the job!" I cheerily gave the job to Macao. After scanning it over, he sent a glance towards Lucy who reassured her approval with a nod. Romeo gave him a hopeful smile while I stood patiently with my own hopeful smile. Wakaba decided to make some offhanded comment about how they could probably beat Macao in a fight. With a sigh Macao hands back the flier and gives us permission.

"Thanks! Come on lets go get some snacks for the road!" I cheerily bounce on my heels. I wave my right hand in the direction of the storage closet. To my intrigue Romeo squints at me before raising one eyebrow.

"Hmm… as long as you don't eat all of them, and share." He challenges me with a slight smirk and a quirked eyebrow. I couldn't miss the hint of playfulness in his voice. I play along with an exaggerated look of offense. My right hand goes to my chest as I still hold the job flier in my left hand.

"Hey, it's not my fault I'm a growing girl!" My smirk grows a little as well as my eyebrow raising the slightest bit in challenge. Romeo decided against rolling his eyes. With a scoff he straightens up. He slowly brings his eyes from my feet to my head as if scanning my height before raising his eyebrows.

"Are you sure? I think you're tall enough as it is." He playfully mocks me. As he finishes his statement the wave his hand tries brushing me off. Romeo starts heading towards the storage closet. I can't help but play along as I exaggerate a gasp, and then take a beat before following him.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" My smile clarified my offense to be fake. I followed him as he tried being fast without running. I let myself go slow playing along with his weirdness.

"I don't know. What should it mean?" Romeo glances behind him, sending me a playful smirk. I shook my head at his antics before speeding up to keep pace with him. We gladly made our way into the storage closet for snacks for the trip. Of course it was hilarious overhearing Macao and Wakaba's conversation.

"Well they seem excited to work together." Wakaba let a sly smirk rise on his face. He took a sip of his beer, and watched Macao out of the corner of his eye. Macao sighed while setting his own mug down. It seemed he didn't get what the other was getting at for a bit. After a moment he sat up and gave Wakaba a very incredulous look.

"What are you talking about? They're just kids." Macao was being snippy as he sent a glare Wakaba's way. He got a scoff in response paired with a sly eye roll.

"You can think what you want, but those two sound quite happy while talking to each other." Wakaba couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face as he took a puff of his cigar. Macao's eyes widened as he went over Romeo and Elle's conversation again. Shaking himself out of it Macao dismissed trying to say Wakaba was just trying to screw with him.

"Romeo and Elle are just friends. Not many kids their age around here." Macao refused to look Wakaba's way, and instead took a gulp of his beer. Wakaba got a kick out of this.

"Yeah friends that sound real good at flirting." Wakaba scoffed beforehand to get his point through to Macao. This causing Macao to choke on his drink sending him into a coughing fit. Wakaba rolled his eyes and tried not laughing at his friend's expense. Yet both men's attention was drawn to a giggling Mirajane. The gossip she was had been listening in.

"What you laughing at… an old man forced to deal with his boy growing up and doing stupid stuff." Macao sent a glare the white-haired barmaid's way. He put his mug down, and Mira shook her head at the idiots. Which led Wakaba to raise an eyebrow at the women.

"Oh dear, you should know by now that those two weren't flirting. If you want to know flirting than look over there." With her sweet tone and smile Mira pointed towards the one and only Cana. This caused the two men to send a questioning gaze her way before watching Cana.

"Hey Lucy, that's a look I haven't seen." Cana sat on the table Lucy was working at. She had a smile that was bordering a smirk. Lucy was wearing an outfit that seemed like she just threw it on compared to her usual put together look. She sported a loose tank top that said 'smarter than I look' and went just past her belly button, paired with cropped sweat pants and some simple slip on shoes. Lucy also had her hair pulled back into a high side ponytail. She looked up at Cana with wide eyes, clearly surprised by the comment.

"Well, I'm just doing some finances, so I don't need to worry about moving around in this." Lucy was defensive as she tried glaring at Cana, but was too nervous. Her pencil twirled in her right hand as Cana gave her a slight chuckle.

"This looks like something much more mobile than your usual outfits. Unless… you like the stares." Cana motioned to Lucy's look as she spoke. She leaned down and spoke a little lower to finish her sentence as Lucy's face went bright red. The blonde was clearly embarrassed, but you couldn't miss her anger. She huffed with heavy breaths as she pouted with eyebrows furrowed in anger. Cana sat up straight and rose an eyebrow at Lucy.

"You don't know what you're talking about! You just like to exaggerate things! Now go away I'm working." Lucy was stern, but clearly off. Cana got to her, and she didn't want to deal with that. Cana chuckled yet again before taking a swig of her beer, finishing it off.

"Whatever you say…" Cana gave the blonde a sly look before practically rolling off the table. Lucy huffed and went back to her finances with a slight blush. With that Cana headed over to Mira to get a refill. This left the two older men to gawk at what they just saw, and a Mira to giggle at their reactions before heading over to give Cana her refill. She might even tease the girl about her flirtatious ways.

 **Well so far on schedule! Enjoy this job is going to be intriguing, but we can't forget we've got two teens in a closet first. Who knows what's going to happen... hehehe**

 **And now thanks to Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, LevelXWright, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, pandragonic, and sugerplumz for favoriting this story.**

 **Always gotta thank the followers such as Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Horror2, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono.**


	26. storage closet

There were racks and racks of food in the storage closet. Romeo knew what he wanted while I scoured the shelves for my choices. I picked out some jerky and crackers. I noticed Romeo trying to reach a colorful box that said fruit snacks. It was kinda funny, but after a moment I rolled my eyes and went to help him.

I was right behind him as I reached up. After a moment he noticed me, and trying to give me space he backed up into me. He jumped forward and clamped his mouth shut. Romeo's eyes slowly went back to normal after they had widened. I brought the box down to our level as he stared at me. I quirked an eyebrow at him as his heart sped up.

"Thanks" His voice was meek as he stared at the box refusing to look at me. The boy had never acted like this. I was confused. He put the box in our pile of snacks while I watched him with a raised eyebrow. He didn't notice for quite some time as he fidgeted.

"What? Why are you acting… weird?" I inquired him with a tone that was confused yet irritated. I swear his cheeks pinkened. He gulped before taking a glance at me. His heart had slowly been calming down, but not anymore. I subconsciously started tapping my foot.

"I… um, you were just really close. Uh, also, kinda… really pretty…" He slightly squeaked while he admitted I was close. If it wasn't for my sensitive ears I wouldn't have heard the last part. I froze as I slowly processed this. He cringed while waiting for my reaction, slightly curling into himself. His breath was calm and consistent. I was really close to him… and he thought I was pretty… Could it be that Romeo is attracted to me? I furrowed my eyebrows; staring at him. I thought over every interaction we've had.

"Sorry, I'm just not used to being that close to uh, to uh girls." He seemed to curl into himself at the last moment. His heart was calming down. He spoke as if this was an embarrassing secret. From what I've seen people care for personal space, but with people they care about that usually dissipates. Could it be that attraction is not commonly talked about? Could it be that some biological functions are… private? I mean sure Wendy got embarrassed by such things, but she's embarrassed easily. I also didn't want them to find out about my arousal during the panic attack incident, but that was because people usually question things like that.

"Uh yeah, don't worry about it. Neither have I." I nervously chuckled, quickly realizing how awkward this interaction must be. I guess not being completely human may lead to some confusion. I scratched the back of my head, avoiding looking at him. He swiftly nodded before processing my words. Furrowing his eyebrows he stared at the ground.

"Wait uh… I mean, uh boys and girls don't normally closely interact. Because… Because it could become inappropriate." Romeo kept his voice low, and struggled through his words. He was clearly blushing now. Now I was looking at him while he winced at the ground. So opposite genders, some biological functions are private, areas that deal with the reproductive system are normally covered. What the fuck does inappropriate mean?!

"Well you don't have to worry about me I've never been attracted to boys before, so… yeah" I looked up at the ceiling while twiddling my fingers. At this he froze. It took him a full minute to get a grip. His eyebrows were furrowed as he blinked a few times. His blush had slightly diminished. With a deep breath he looked up at me confusedly.

"So you've never had a crush, or good strange feelings in your stomach for someone?" His curiosity took over his weariness easily. His body was still mostly aimed at the ground, but his eyes looked up at me. Why would someone call a person they care deeply about and might even love a crush? Honestly the more I learned the more baffled I was. Slowly I looked back down at him. I guess it would make sense that being attracted to the same sex would be strange because it proves no biological function other than companionship.

"I guess I have, but they were a girl." I tried sounding laid back but my nerves shown through. How did I get into this mess. Oh yeah, I blame Delara and soda. Romeo took deep breathes as he processed this information. His blush intensified.

"I'm sorry for assuming things. Anyways we should probably get going. Wendy's probably wondering where we are." He took a step back to have room to wave his hands around. I was not expecting that. Then I realised his words and cringed. How long had we been in here. Mumbling a don't worry I grabbed our snacks and headed out.

Wendy was waiting by a wagon looking a little nervous. When she noticed us she smiled and looked calmer. I rolled my eyes at her as I packed the things into the wagon. She told how she was getting worried and now we probably won't make it until nightfall. Romeo apologized and it seemed he wasn't really blushing any more.

"Let's stop by my house. I think we're going to spend at least one night there." Wendy and Romeo agreed. Wendy had already gotten stuff for her and Romeo. We headed out, and as usual I packed an extra water bottle for Wendy on the wagon. Romeo sent us weird looks from time to time, but other than that it seemed like he was just processing our interaction very slowly.

Once we got to the in the receptions was sending us weird looks. I was too tired to tune in on her and Romeo's conversation. Apparently rooms don't normally have three beds, so I ended up sharing a bed with Wendy. As usual was nervous and it didn't help that Romeo wasn't sure about the idea either. I was too tired though.

"Alright you guys can freak out all you want but I'm tired. So either I sleep on the bed or the floor. Just tell me so I can go to sleep." My eyes were half open and I was clearly tired. I patted the bed as I yawned. That statement kind of kicked Romeo out of the conversation so he went and got ready for bed. Wendy was nervous but refused to let me sleep on the floor. I took a deep breath and calmed myself before going to sleep, hoping it would keep some nightmares away. I didn't Lucy here to sing to me.

 **Hello so school has kept me busy, and I've been focusing on my calligraphy in my spare time but I'm here now. I also had to rewrite part of because I was half asleep the first time. I hoped you enjoyed.**

 **Thanks to Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Gabbicat18, Kittycat1700, LevelXWright, MaxSiker, Patri36, SyrenKane, Yurasen, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, pandragonic, and sugerplumz for favoriting.**

 **As always I aslo gotta thank AlienSpaceAce, Alkus, Darkwing Motion, Horror2, JcL107, Kittycat1700, MaxSiker, SchneeKa, WingedEmmi, bahall1964, mercawesomeness, shadownightwolf19, sugerplumz, and xMiyazono for following this story.**

 **Oh because school started back up I'm gonna have to post every other week.**


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